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Nancy's Chalkboard: blogging and blabbing about breasts and whatever else Nancy fancies

Staggering Disparity in BC Diagnosis: How 100 Miles Make the Difference

Staggering Disparity: How 100 miles make the difference

Jan, who resides in Connecticut, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Three days later, Cindy, a Massachusets resident, was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer which metastisized to 16 lymph nodes - why the staggering difference? 100 miles.

What if Cindy lived 100 miles south and was informed of her dense breast tissue and had adjunct screening in 2009? There is a research-compelling probability that her cancer would have been detected - exchanging her advanced diagnosis with an early one.

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Are You Dense? Fact #1: Breast density is one of the strongest predictors of the failure of mammography screening to detect cancer.

Are You Dense? Fact #2: Two-thirds of pre-menopausal women and 40% of post-menopausal women have dense breast tissue.

Are You Dense? Fact #3: Adding more sensitive tests to mammography significantly increase detection of invasive cancers that are small and node negative.

Are You Dense? Fact #4: American College of Radiology describes women with "Dense Breast Tissue" as having a higher than average risk of Breast Cancer.

Are You Dense? Fact #5: While a mammogram detects 98% of cancers in women with fatty breasts, it finds only 48% in women with dense breasts.

Are You Dense? Fact #6: A woman at average risk and a woman at high risk have an EQUAL chance of having their cancer masked by mammogram.

Are You Dense? Fact #7: Women with dense breasts who had breast cancer have a four times higher risk of recurrence than women with less-dense breasts.

Are You Dense? Fact #8: A substantial proportion of Breast Cancer can be attributed to high breast density alone.

Are You Dense? Fact #9: Cancer turns up five times more often in women with extremely dense breasts than those with the most fatty tissue.

Are You Dense? Fact #10: There are too many women who are unaware of their breast density, believe their “Happy Gram” when it reports no significant findings and are at risk of receiving a later stage cancer diagnosis.