Breast density increases breast cancer risk, according to health experts

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Experts say, based on recent studies, denser breasts are more at risk of developing breast cancer.

Breast density not only makes your risk of developing breast cancer higher, but it also makes it difficult for medical professionals to read and see cancer in your mammograms.

Dr. Rebecca Wiatrek, a surgical oncologist with Texas Oncology, said it is important to understand how different breast size is in comparison to breast density and the different stages of breast density.

What is breast density?

Breast density is determined by the amount of breast cells in the breast as opposed to the fat cells found in breasts, according to Wiatrek.

"You may have a smaller, compact breast or a larger breast that has a lot of extra breast cells in it. When we look at breast and we can see it really clearly on a mammogram, you may have a patient that's mostly fatty replaced so the density that we see, which is their Fibro glandular tissue, is minimal," Wiatrek said.

What are the different stages of breast density?

There are four stages of breast density. They range from breasts with mostly fat to breasts with less fat and more density.

Stage one: Experts consider stage one breasts as breasts that consist of mostly fatty tissue.

Stage two: Experts consider stage two breasts as breasts with scattered fibro glandular tissue.

Stage three: Experts consider stage three breasts as breasts with more dense breast tissue. This stage is called heterogeneously dense, meaning there are pockets that are denser than others.

Stage four: Experts consider stage four as extremely dense breasts. This breast type is harder to actually see in mammograms, this type of density masks cancer underneath it.

"When you have a really dense breast number one, it's hard to compress it, so it's harder to see on mammogram. It's also a little harder to see through that to see any sort of cancers or atypical lesions," Wiatrek said.

Why do dense breasts have higher risk of cancer?

Experts once believed the reason for the increased risk was the masking component that happens when breasts are examined through mammograms but, newer studies show that it has to do with the amount of cells in the breasts that have the propensity to turn into breast cancer.

"We don't exactly know why a dense breast may be more likely to have or develop a breast cancer, we're still trying to figure that out, but we do know it increases the patient's risk based on the most recent studies," said Wiatrek.

How to know if you have dense breasts?

As of Sept. 10, the Food and Drug Administration issued a rule to update the mammography regulations under the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992. This new rule requires health care providers to provide patients with information such as breast density.

"For a patient that is doing self exams, dense breast tissue does feel different than a fatty replaced breast, and can sometimes feel like you have a masses in your breast, but it's actually dense breast tissue the first exam you have with your gynecologist, or that they should be able to tell you and give you a comparison on that, but the standard of knowing how dense it is is going to be a mammogram," said Wiatrek.

Mammograms and screenings

Mammograms and breast screening can help detect cancer early and help doctors better understand the best type of care a patient needs.

Experts recommend starting mammogram screenings at age 40, unless they are in a different risk category. Clinical exams and screenings should start at age 25 and up unless otherwise recommended by your doctor.

"The gynecologists that women are seeing are great at knowing what those recommendations are and make sure that you don't miss a baseline screening," Wiatrek said.