Dense Breasts: What Women Need to Know

Did you know 85% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease? This is because there are other significant risk factors for this particular cancer that women are often unaware of. One of them is having dense breasts. 

Women who have dense breasts are at a higher risk of breast cancer and it likely that the tumors will be harder to find. What are dense breasts?

Breasts are made up of three types of tissue: fat, epithelium, and stroma. Epithelium is the glands and ducts that produce milk and stroma acts as a supporting tissue. The breasts with a higher amount of epithelium and stroma to fat are considered dense. 

Women with dense breasts have this exact tissue ratio usually for the majority of their adult lives. This tissue develops in adolescence when the breasts form. After 40, the tissue does gradually decrease, often replaced by fat on average by about one percent every year. Once a woman reaches menopause, that natural decrease in density jumps to eight percent on average. 

Even so, some women still have dense breasts in their 60s. 

Breast density is quite common and has been estimated to affect approximately 50% of women. Genetics is the main proponent of having dense breasts. Other factors are delayed childbearing, combined estrogen/progesterone hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and a family history of breast cancer. 

A physician cannot diagnose dense breasts by touch, appearance or symptoms of discomfort. Some women do have firm breasts that suggest denseness but it still cannot be determined for sure until their breasts are viewed with mammography. 

According to the data, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.  It affects more than 280,000 women per year, that’s about one new case every 2 minutes.  The inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are responsible for up to 25% of inherited breast cancers and about 10% percent of ALL breast cancers. Testing for these genes is important because they are the most common for breast cancer and have proven to put you at the highest lifetime risk.  But women need to also remember that these genes are only 2 out of the 20 other genes linked to breast cancer.  So even if you test negative for the BRCA genes, you are still at risk for other genetic mutations that could be responsible for breast cancer. 

Women with strong family history need to be proactive regardless of it they test positive for the BRCA gene mutations.  Breast cancer surveillance through mammograms, self-examination, and newer scan technologies should be taken seriously and done routinely.  For those women who prefer not commit to active surveillance, preventative mastectomy might be the answer.  But that decision is of course very personal.   Staying informed, and knowing your risks are key to making the best decision.