It's October.
Pink, pink, pink.
Today, everyone is "aware" of breast cancer and most people have a ribbon or t-shirt.
But there is a topic that many people are not aware of: breast density.
Most of the prevention messages that are broadcast about breast cancer downplay or do not mention this critical issue.
What is it?
When you have dense breast tissue (and over 40% of women do), mammograms are very poor at detecting the difference between a tumor and the normal makeup of the breast. This means that you can get an "all clear" on a mammogram while harboring a tumor.
This happened to me. My last "no problem" mammogram was taken a half a year before an aggressive, 5-centimeter tumor was found. I could feel this lump; my GP could feel it, the mammogram technicians could feel it--but it STILL didn't show up on the "diagnostic" mammogram I got when I came in complaining of the lump. Nor did it show up clearly on an ultrasound.
This tumor was only detectable by MRI.
Today, about half the states in the country have breast density laws that require radiologists to tell women who have dense breasts that their mammograms may not be a good diagnostic tool, and recommend that they discuss other options with their doctors. This means that half our states do not. And even in the states that do, there is no guarantee that women will take these warnings seriously or that their doctors will support them in getting the additional diagnostic images they need.
As an aside, I will mention that these breast density laws have been vigorously opposed by radiologists, who claim that they will cause unnecessary anxiety and testing. I would love to speak to one of them face-to-face and ask them if they would prefer the anxiety of getting additional testing to the anxiety of actually having cancer.
So for all the hoopla about routine mammograms and self-examination, what is getting lost?
1. The fact that many women with dense breasts are NOT getting the kind of diagnostic imaging that allows them to find tumors before they grow to 5 centimeters, before they spread, as they did for me, to the lymph nodes. If you have dense breasts, you are accustomed to feeling lots of small lumps, and it's very difficult to identify a new one.
2. The fact that insurance companies and even many doctors balk at prescribing and paying for MRIs.
So, in this month of Breast Cancer Awareness, I urge you to spread this word, which just might save someone's life.
Great information and stories are available on the website "Are You Dense"
http://www.areyoudense.org/
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