Effects of having extremely dense breasts

Less fatty tissue and more non - fatty tissue have dense breasts. Therefore, if your mother has dense breasts, there is an increased likelihood that you will have dense breasts as well.Breast density can have a significant impact on the accuracy of routine detection methods, such as mammography screening. 

All imaging modalities are based on visual interpretations of the breasts of a woman, and visual interpretation can be confused by increased glandular tissue, obscuring cancers for patients with dense breasts. In particular, women with extreme breast density, which accounts for about 10% of women, are more likely to develop cancer and be diagnosed later.This is because it is extremely difficult to decide between healthy and dense breast tissue and cancer, as both appear white on the image, this is often associated with attempting to spot a polar bear in a snowstorm.

It's not exactly clear why some women have dense tissue in the breast and others don't. Although dense breasts may be more likely to have:

·         Women are most likely to have dense breast tissue in their 40s and 50s. As with age, breast tissue tends to get less dense.

·         It is more likely that premenopausal women will have dense breasts.

·         Women who take hormone combination therapy to relieve menopause signs and symptoms are more likely to have dense breasts.

Each set ofdiagnostic imaging tests has clear advantages and disadvantages. However, for women with dense breasts, there is no simple, cost-effective solution to obtain a definitive detection status through imagery. For women with an abnormal or unclear imaging finding, in addition to the current standard of care, using a complementary blood-based approach could help in early detection or help rule out breast cancer regardless of breast density.