Dense breasts - AMAZING research!

[dlaxague]

Thanks for posting this fascinating article, Steph. I didn't understand every bit of it, but enough to get the idea. I knew that dense breasts were associated with higher risk of bc, but not that said risk included more aggressive cancer.

I had dense breast always, and they were lumpy/cysty also. My primary tumor was 1.2 cm, which is pretty small compared to the SIX cm. axillary node that heralded the whole thing. (plus 4 more + nodes larger than the primary tumor in the breast). I asked everyone (surgeon, onc, random passersby) what the significance of this was and they all replied the same - "we don't know".

There is more and more talk of the "stroma" which if I understand correctly, is the tissue around the cancer cells themselves. Stroma is thought to have a role in cancer development although details at this point are uncertain. The article that you posted offers one more clue.

I'm satisfied with my choice to have bilateral mastectomies (prophylactic on the non-cancer side). But if I needed any encouragement, this article provides it. For me (or us - my husband was an equal participant in the decision process), the vigilance that would have been needed had I kept the other breast would have made me nuts. Especially since mammography failed me for the cancer-affected breast. I had no trust in surveilance, and did not want to be caught up in that roller-coaster. Plus, symmetry appealed. My surgeon made it very clear that mastectomy of the unaffected breast offered no survival advantage, but he did not argue my decision once he knew that I understood the facts.

Debbie Laxague