A recent study determined not all women with dense breasts have a high enough risk of breast cancer to require additional imaging following a traditional mammogram.
Women with specific types of dense breasts that also have a high five-year cancer risk are urged to discuss supplemental screening strategies with their doctors because the density can make cancers more difficult to detect, the American College of Physicians reported.
In a number of states, laws require women to be notified if they have dense breasts and are advised to consider additional screening, but researchers are concerned increasing screening could also lead to a higher rate of false positives.
A team of researchers looked at screening data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) to help pinpoint which women should undergo supplemental screening to detect cancer that slipped by mammography screening. The findings revealed more than half of women with dense breasts did not have an elevated risk for interval cancers or aggressive cancers to be diagnosed within a year of a mammogram.
The findings suggest breast density should not be the only factor influencing doctors' recommendations for additional breast screening. The researchers wrote in an accompanying editorial to the Annals of Internal Medicine paper that federal legislation should focus on identifying if women have a high risk of interval breast cancer instead of solely relying on breast density.
