Skip to main content

Angela's Story

Portrait of Angela in a pink cap

Name: Angela
State: California
Date of Diagnosis: December 29, 2009
Age at Diagnosis: 42
Stage of Diagnosis: Stage 1
Time from "normal" mammogram to diagnosis: 5 months
How was cancer detected: By me

I just had a mammogram in July and the results were "normal". In December, I felt a lump and went to my physician. A diagnostic mammogram was ordered and STILL the mammogram could not 'see' the cancer because of my breast density. The ultrasound found a mass and the pathology report confirmed - Cancer. I was fortunate to be diagnosed with an early cancer in spite of two mammograms missing it. My doctors and I agree that because of my dense breasts, I will have a mammogram and an MRI. Even though the MRI may find more suspicious 'areas', I would rather have a biopsy that comes back "no cancer" than a mammogram which reports "normal" but is FALSE. Women with dense breast tissue need to have access to better screening tools.

Back to Stories

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.