Dense breast tissue hikes risk of cancer

[Roon]

Cancer turns up five times more often in women with extremely dense breasts than in those with the most fatty tissue, a study shows, signaling the importance of a risk factor rarely discussed with patients.

On mammograms, fat looks dark, but dense tissue is light, like tumors, so it can hide the cancers. But this study confirms that cancers are also more frequent — not just hidden — in women with dense breasts.

That means that density is a true risk factor, along with other strong predictors like age and the genes BRCA1 and 2. Yet specialists say that breast density is rarely considered with other risk factors in discussions between doctors and patients.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16673818/

[Uben]

1. It's true

My wife had fiber-cystic disease, acondition where there is an abnormal amount of dense tissues in the breasts. Everytime she went for a mammogram, there would always be follow-up exams because of the ability for these cysts to obscure tumors. AFter years and years of this scenario, she stopped getting mammograms altogether because of the hassle. Sure enough, she got cancer at age 50. She is now a 5 yr survivor, even with opting out of the suggested chemo treatments. (after all, if you have a reoccurance, they just give you these drugs then)

[Olney Blue]

2. Good information to know- thanks for this link, Roon.