title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
INCREASING AWARENESS OF THE PREVALENCE AND RISKS OF HAVING HIGH BREAST DENSITY
WHEREAS, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) in Western countries. Most people who develop breast cancer don't have any known risk factors. Breast cancer screening tests are used to find breast cancer in people who have no warning signs or symptoms. Overall, mammography is the most effective screening test used today to find breast cancer in most women and people AFAB, since it can find cancers at an early stage, when the chances of long-term survival are highest; and
WHEREAS, the American Cancer Society recommends mammograms for screening purposes as often as every year starting at age 40 as long as a woman and person AFAB is in good health; and
WHEREAS, dense breast tissue is commonly found during regular mammograms. Dense breasts have more glandular and fibrous tissue and less fatty tissue which can make it difficult to see potential cancer on mammograms since both dense breast tissue and potential cancers appear as a white spot on a mammogram; and
WHEREAS, breast density is divided into four types, ranging from having very little dense tissue (A) to extremely dense tissue (D). About 40% of women and people AFAB have what is considered dense breast tissue (C), and about 10% fall in category D, presenting extremely dense tissue; and
WHEREAS, according to a study by the Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands, published on December 2022 to the National Library of Medicine: having extremely dense breast tissue (BI-RADS density D) resulted in a 2-fold increased breast cancer risk compared to having scattered dense breast tissue; and
WHEREAS, on March 10, 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule amending the Mammography Quality Standards Act (M...
Click here for full text