Breasts are almost all fatty tissue.
Help Your Patients Understand Breast Density
When discussing density with your patients it may be easier to describe dense breast tissue as clouds in the sky and breast cancers as white planes in flight. When a plane flies through wispy clouds, you can still see the plane in the air, but when a plane flies through thick clouds, it can be nearly impossible to detect.
Breast Density Basics
As you know, breasts consist of several types of tissue that appear differently on a mammogram, one which is dense breast tissue.
Today, nearly half of the screening population will have dense breast tissue at some point in their lives.18-19 And though common, women with high density have an increased risk of breast cancer.
What’s more, dense breast tissue can make it challenging for radiologists to interpret the mammogram image, which often results in repeat imaging for the patient.
Thankfully, studies show that the Genius™ 3D Mammography™ exam has greater accuracy for women across a variety of ages and breast densities.1,2
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Sign UpClearing Up Breast Density Questions
Mammograms are the only way to find out if your patient has dense breasts. After a mammogram, breast density is typically categorized, or given a BI-RADs™ score, which has a range from a – d (mostly fatty to extremely dense).
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a
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b
There are scattered areas of dense glandular and fibrous tissue.
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c
More of the breast is made of dense glandular and fibrous tissue.
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d
Breasts are extremely dense.
Sample images from ACR. These are simulated, not real clinical images
Many radiologists factor in this score when determining a woman’s overall breast cancer risk and personalized screening approach.
Ensure your patients always get a Genius™ exam as the first step in their breast screening.
Recommending the Genius Exam Is Essential
Genius™ 3D Mammography™ Exam: The Only Mammogram Proven Superior for Women with Dense Breasts1,2
Dense breast tissue makes cancers harder to detect by obscuring lesions, and as the density increases, so does the risk of breast cancer. For these reasons, superior screening is vital.
Fortunately, the Hologic Genius™ 3D Mammography™ exam is the only mammogram FDA approved as superior for women with dense breasts for routine breast cancer screening.1,2
Plus, the Genius™ exam is clinically proven to reduce the chance of unnecessary callbacks by 40%,2,5 which are common for women with dense breasts.
Every patient’s long-term screening journey will be personalized to meet her specific profile and needs, but it’s important to start the process with the Genius™ 3D Mammography™ exam.
