Here’s what women age 40+ should know about breast density, breast cancer risk, and breast MRI.
Nearly half of women have dense breasts, which means their breasts have more glandular than fatty tissue.
Women with dense breasts have up to three times higher breast cancer risk, depending on the level of breast tissue density.
Most women who have dense breast tissue don’t know it, even though New Jersey law requires a breast density notification in mammogram reports.
Dense breast tissue makes breast cancer harder to find in a mammogram, even though the annual mammogram is the gold standard in early detection for all women.
Screening breast MRI in addition to mammograms can detect up to three times more early-stage breast cancer compared to a mammogram alone.
Some health insurance plans, but not all, cover supplementary screening breast MRI for women with dense breast tissue.
