Breast Density Workshop Adelaide papers online

.....In WA people are advised they have dense breasts and told to speak to their doctors - most don’t ......

At least they've been given the choice .....  which the rest of us haven't.

It is an education thing - included in 'the letter' - they need to be advised WHY it is in their best interests to talk to their GP!

However, in your neighbour's case ..... I've got a better saying -  Sadly, you can't cure Stupid!  :(    

Maybe she is scared to, in case she too, 'has it' or 'gets it' ..... either way, dumb lady!    :( 

Here's a video on Breast Density as well ..... well worth a watch - sounds like we need to invest in SonoCiné AWBUS (Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound!!!)   This tool has been available since 2000!!  My guess is that No-one has heard of it!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYcpMVgXcqA

Calling all women with dense breasts or implants: Your small, curable cancers are often missed by mammography. Following Dr. Papanicolaou’s 30-year struggle to gain acceptance of the Pap smear for detection of cervical cancer, Dr. Kelly is working to do the same for an automated ultrasound technology that finds cancers when they are very small and very curable. Dr. Kevin Kelly is passionate and dedicated to the early detection of breast cancer. His goal is to educate women about the importance of understanding their breast type so they can make informed decisions about their screening options. Kevin is the Medical Director of The Breast Ultrasound Center in Pasadena, CA, and has been in private practice as a diagnostic radiologist for 34 years. Dr. Kelly is one of this country’s leading authorities on using ultrasound to detect cancers in women with dense breast tissue and/or implants. Since 1993, he has been conducting clinical research on the discovery and characterization of breast cancer by ultrasound, and in 1997 began his journey to develop SonoCiné AWBUS (Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound). Launched in 2000, SonoCiné Inc. has been instrumental in identifying numerous very small cancers that were not detected by mammography, thus saving many lives and avoiding unnecessary chemotherapy treatments in many women.

@arpie In WA people are advised they have dense breasts and told to speak to their doctors - most don’t and also most do not know implications for breast cancer detection - that was revealed by Jennifer Stone in her as yet unpublished survey of the outcomes of WA screening.

I have a neighbor whose mother had bc and also 2 aunts .She is an intelligent woman of 57 and never had a mammogram.

There is a saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

....one of the reasons they don’t screen below 50 is most have dense breasts when younger making mammograms difficult to diagnose breast cancer on younger people. Breast Density diminishes with age......

.....Breast density is established in puberty , is genetic and is caused by oestrogen.However it can change over time - HRT increases it but the following reduce breast density - Tamoxifen , child bearing , menopause, ageing and BMI.... 

hmmmmm ... yet so many of us still have dense breasts even tho we are older (I am 65) and already been thru menopause (started at 45, finished at 55) and ageing (well, I hope!) ..... and have 'average' BMI - but then again, I didn't have kids & have never been pregnant .... tho I DID have HRT cream for a few months 15 years ago (before it gave me an abnormal BreastScreen result due to the testosterone component back then!)  And you are only on Tamoxifen AFTER being diagnosed anyway ....

It is really easy to see how tumours 'disappear' in dense breasts (i.e. difficult to identify with mammogram) - just look at the 2 final pics .... the person reading MY mammogram couldn't even see the tumours, even tho exactly pinpointed by my GP on the referral, after she had found them!  The Ultrasound result the same day, wasn't much better - not identifying anything as a tumour but suggesting a biopsy as a safeguard!  The bloke setting me up for the biopsy reckoned there was no need for a biopsy and told the Doctor .... HOW WRONG WAS HE??


It is ESSENTIAL that they advise ANY woman with dense breasts that they WILL need further screening of a different type, possibly even MRI - and not just 'hope' nothing happens to them.   

As @Sister says - we've been given a false sense of security for too long, in simply HAVING the screening  ..... (I've ALWAYS been uncomfortable with the 'after letter' where they say the mammogram screening isn't proof of NOT having cancer ..... as so many of us have found out!)

....But surely the exact grade isn't what is important - it's merely the fact that early cancers could be obscured.  It takes enough courage, particularly when BC is in the family, to go along to a breastscreen without going away with a false sense of security....

You don't need a university education to know that ANY information that will assist in an earlier diagnosis and hopefully a less invasive procedure is ESSENTIAL for the patient to be made aware of.

The whole 'medical thing' whether Doctor or other professional is to 'do no damage'.

By NOT informing us, they are playing God!

How about we do a poll of those who had had a Mammogram within 6-12 months of being diagnosed?  I think the results may surprise many!  :( 

Breast density is established in puberty , is genetic and is caused by oestrogen.However it can change over time - HRT increases it but the following reduce breast density- Tamoxifen , child bearing , menopause, ageing and BMI.

Btw @ sister and @ kmakm - we have a strong advocate in Wendy Ingman for providing breastdensity advice to people undertaking mammograms. She is monitoring this site for our views so we all need to speak up and let her know what we think.

@Sister one of the reasons they don’t screen below 50 is most have dense breasts when younger making mammograms difficult to diagnose breast cancer on younger people.Breat Density diminishes with age.
  
To me the fundamental issue appeared to be increased burden on the public purse that more advanced screening would impose and possibly medical fear of litigation if breast density measurement lacks uniform and objective accuracy.

Me, too @kmakm!

Well said @Sister. My two girls are in the same boat, having to start surveillance at 30. If this doesn't change by then I'll be going along to their appointments like some insane biddy, being obnoxiously loud snd insistent.

Niece10 regularly asks me "Am I going to get breast cancer?", which breaks my heart everytime. I make soothing noises about how we just have to keep a closer eye on them with regular checks at the doctor's. If she and my daughter are not fully informed at these scans, I'll f*****g spit chips. Merry hell will be raised...

 >:) 

I have finally had time to read this and actually take it in @romla.  Thank you so much for going and taking the time to fill us all in.  

Surely, there can be no issue with informing the patient of their own body.  I know that I had dense breasts when I was younger from the time I had a diagnostic mammogram in my 30s for what turned out to be a cyst (interestingly, in a similar area to the cancer).  I was never told that this could be an issue with any bearing on anything even though my sister had Stage 4 at that time.  To be honest, I don't know how dense my breasts still are but that is a question for the surgeon when I see him in a couple of weeks - whether he mentioned it at an earlier appointment, I have no idea as my head was spinning back then.

Due to familial risk, my 2 daughters will be advised to be screened from 30 years old so I am very concerned that this stance be changed.  It is highly likely that 1 if not both of them will inherit dense breasts from me.  How dense?  Who knows? But surely the exact grade isn't what is important - it's merely the fact that early cancers could be obscured.  It takes enough courage, particularly when BC is in the family, to go along to a breastscreen without going away with a false sense of security.

@Giovanna_BCNA  - can this be 'sticky'd' ..... it has a wealth of information in it that many on the forum really NEED to keep 'in front of them' - and need to advise all the women in their life to be aware of.  

Many have a worse condition (even mets) because they DIDN'T KNOW that their dense breasts were the reason for the tumours not being picked up earlier.  :(