What is breast density?
Breast tissue is composed of fibrous, glandular and fatty tissue. Dense breasts have much more fibrous and glandular tissue compared to fatty tissue. About 50% of women have dense breast tissue.
Why is breast density important?
Dense breast tissue makes it much more difficult to find cancer on a mammogram by hiding an early cancer when it has the best chance for cure. Depending on how dense your tissue is, dense breast tissue may moderately increase your risk of breast cancer.
How do I know if I have dense breasts?
Breast density can only be determined by a mammogram – the size, shape and even the feel of your breast will not indicate whether or not you have dense tissue. While age does play a role (younger women are more likely to have dense breasts), only the images from the mammogram will inform you of your true breast density.
Florida Breast Density Legislation passed in March 2018 mandates patient notification of breast density effective July 2018.
Your breast density information is included in your mammogram report that goes to your health care provider and can be found in your online patient portal. Breast density is classified on a four-tier scale:
Can I have an AB-MR exam as supplemental screening if I have implants?
Yes. The FDA recommends that women with silicone gel-filled implants have routine breast MRI exams to evaluate for silent implant rupture starting at 3 years after the implants have been placed, and every 2 years thereafter. We offer a special abbreviated breast MRI exam, called AB-MR Plus, that screens dense breasts for both cancer and silicone implant rupture (the price is higher than a regular AB-MR due to the additional time involved to evaluate the silicone implants). If you have saline implants and dense breasts, you may have the regular AB-MR because saline does not require special MR sequences.
