Your Patient's Screening Mammogram Indicates Dense Breasts; Now What?

Women with mammographically dense breast tissue are at excess risk for breast cancer, but it's unclear whether additional evaluation is appropriate. In a study of 831,455 digital screening mammograms in 365,426 women (age range, 40–74), investigators assessed the likelihood of interval breast cancer (i.e., detected within 12 months of a negative screening mammogram) based on breast density alone or in combination with 5-year breast cancer risk as calculated with the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium risk model (available at https://tools.bcsc-scc.org/BC5yearRisk/calculator.htm). A high rate of interval cancer was defined as >1 case per 1000 screens.

Almost half of all women were classified as having dense breasts, with this percentage de…