A new study suggests that women consider dense breast tissue, which increases the risk of breast cancer up to four times, a lesser risk when compared to other risk factors such as a first-degree family member with breast cancer and having excess weight or obesity.
Ruth Oratz, MD, a medical oncologist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, tells CNN Health that although women are informed in a mammogram report that they have dense breast tissue, it’s not a given that they receive an explanation of what that means in terms of risk.
“I think what we’ve learned from this study is that we have to do a better job of educating not only the general public of women, but the general public of healthcare providers who are doing the primary care, who are ordering those screening mammograms,” says Dr. Oratz, who is also a clinical professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Read more from CNN Health.