|
 In particular, African American and Ashkenazi Jewish women, who may
be at a higher risk for breast cancer, seemed to be less
knowledgeable about breast density, researchers found.
“There’s a national movement to increase women’s awareness of breast
density and help them make better healthcare decisions,” said
Jennifer Harvey, study author and co-director of the University of
Virginia Breast Care Program in Charlottesville, Virginia.
“Although women are more aware of this topic, they don’t understand
the implications of what having dense breasts means,” she told
Reuters Health. “It can be really common.”
Breast density compares the amount of fat to the amount of other
types of tissue in a mammogram image. Dense breasts contain more
glandular and fibrous tissue than fatty tissue. Typically, breast
density decreases as women age.
Previous studies have found that breast density reduces the
sensitivity of mammography because there is more tissue to scan and
study. In addition, density is considered an independent risk factor
for breast cancer due to increased estrogen production, genetic
heredity and elevated growth factors in the breast tissue of women
with dense breasts, according to Harvey.
In the current study, Harvey and her colleagues interviewed 1,024
randomly selected Virginia women between ages 35 and 70 by phone.
They asked questions about breast density, breast cancer risk and
mammograms. Virginia is one of 24 states that require patients to be
notified when imaging finds they have dense breasts. The law had
been in place for a year when the study was conducted.
More than 90 percent of the women interviewed said they were checked
for breast cancer in some way in the last five years, and 75 percent
had a mammogram in the last five years.
About half of the women who had a mammogram in the last year said
their healthcare provider informed them about the density of their
breasts, which the researchers expected. However, about 30 percent
said they weren’t familiar with the concept of “breast density.”
Of all the respondents, just 5 percent could correctly answer three
questions about breast density knowledge, the study authors write in
the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
[to top of second column] |
“Although health practitioners may say women don’t need mammograms
every year, we suggest that those with dense breasts really do,”
Harvey said. “Density not only decreases our ability to see cancer
but also increases the risk of cancer, which makes this message even
more important.”
In 2015, the American Cancer Society shifted its guidelines to
encourage women to start annual screenings at age 45 instead of 40
and cut back to every other year once they turn 55. The U.S.
Preventive Services Task Force recommends mammograms every other
year for women between 50 and 75.
The current study is restricted to Virginia and is a snapshot of a
moment in time at a handful of facilities, said Christoph Lee,
associate professor of radiology at the University of Washington in
Seattle, who wasn’t involved with the research.
“While having dense breasts leads to an increased risk of developing
breast cancer, the magnitude of increased risk is debated,” he told
Reuters Health by email.
“Since it is most likely an intermediate risk factor overshadowed by
other risk factors such as personal or family history, it remains
uncertain what women should do with this added information, if
anything,” he said.
The study assesses knowledge but doesn’t suggest ways to educate
women about breast cancer risk, Lee added. The next step is to
explain risk to women in a way that is “efficient and effective and
does not cause undue anxiety,” he said.
“We need to do a better job of educating women, especially African
American and Jewish women, about what this means for them,” Harvey
said. “There are many resources available online, and we need to
help them find that information.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2dJEH5L Journal of the American College of
Radiology, online September 24, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
