Density Matters

[caya]

Thanks for posting this important article Dee. I had my mastectomy at Princess Margaret Hospital in Dec. 2006 - ( known by the locals as PMH) - w world class hospital on the cutting edge of research and clinical trials.


This article was all over the local news here in Toronto yesterday - I could be the poster girl for this article. This version of the article is missing the important section that says : "Since dense tissue can mask tumours, the study authors suggest alternate imaging techniques such as digital mammography, ultrasonography, and MRI, be evaluted for women with extensive breast density." I mention this because I just had a regular mammo and breast ultrasound in June 2006, ( all clear supposedly), then had a breast reduction in Oct. 2006 - my plastic surgeon found my 1.7 cm tumor - subsequent mastectomy in Dec. 2006 - starting chemo next week.

We have to be vigilant in advocating for breast MRIs for dense breast tissue gals. I know I am going to be.

[Hopeful]

I, too am in this club. I was never counseled about breast density. I had no idea until after my dx, when I went to the mammography center to get all my prior reports. I read that density was an issue for me in a report that was six years old!!!. Not one doctor had ever mentioned it. I would have insisted on much more rigorous screening. In point of fact, I am much more concerned about developing a new primary cancer than having a recurrence of the original one.

Hopeful

[dee]

It was noticing and remembering that my mammogram results had mentioned dense breasts the year before cancer arrived (less than a year, actually, about 10 months) that piqued my interest in this article. No one even mentioned it to me back then, I just happen to retain details that seem odd to me, which that term did. Now, this article would seem to indicate I should have received counsel, which, of course, I didn't. Other literature I have read has indicated premenopausal women tend to have denser breasts, so I figured it was just an indication of my youthful stature, not a red light for potential bad news down the road...