Dense Breasts

Breast are composed of fat, fibrous (connective/supportive) tissue, and glandular tissue. On a mammogram, fat is gray, while everything else is white. A mammogram is considered “dense” if most of each breast contains more fibrous and glandular tissue than fat (meaning, most of the breast is white). It’s important to know your breast density because small masses can be hidden by dense tissue. Women with dense breast tissue – especially extremely dense breast tissue – are at relatively greater risk for developing breast cancer than women with non-dense breasts. Your mammogram summary will let you know your breast density category. If your breasts are dense, you are eligible for additional screening services such as ultrasound or MRI.