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Vanda's Story

Portrait of Vanda

Name: Vanda
Country: Australia
Date of Diagnosis: 2011
Age of Diagnosis: 46
Stage at Diagnosis: Stage 2B
How was cancer detected?: Ultrasound & MRI

Due to my family history that my maternal grandmother and great grandmother had breast cancer, I received a mammogram and ultrasound since my first screening at 40. While the breast specialist mentioned that I had DENSE BREASTS, I never knew the extent of its impact on MY mammography screening. In 2011, my mammogram came out 'all clear/normal.' Only after a very thorough ultrasound by an experienced radiologist was my lesion/tumor discovered. Only the MRI depicted the actual picture as following the MRI, smaller tumors were found in the same breast and hyperplasia in the other breast. I would strongly suggest to all women with dense breast tissue to NOT rely on mammogram alone, even with an experienced radiologist. It's your life - you take control and demand an MRI.

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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.