Breast Cancer Screening Change Could Save Lives

BOSTON (CBS) – Next year, thousands of Massachusetts women will get some unsettling news in their mammogram results. For the first time, they will be told they have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. It’s designed to give women more information about their health and their risk of developing the disease. It is information Cindy Cardillo of Hopkinton wishes she had years ago when she first started getting mammograms in her 20’s because of a family history. “Every time I went, I was just relieved I got the report that said everything looked good,” she said. That all changed the day she found a lump in her armpit. She had a number of tests, including a mammogram. “The mammogram was clear and didn’t show anything,” she said. But Cindy did have cancer and it had advanced to stage three. That’s when Cindy learned she had dense breasts. “My breasts had been dense all these years and could easily hide a tumor,” she said. According to Andrea McKee of Lahey Medical Center, nearly half of women have some level of dense tissue in their breast. The denser the breast, the harder it is to read on a mammogram. Dense breast tissue shows up white on mammogram and so do tumors. “The more white you see, the harder it is for us to pick out a mass or cancer because that would also be white,” she explained. But that’s not the only problem. Women with dense breasts also have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. That’s something ...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Breast Cancer Health Local News Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Watch Listen Dr. Mallika Marshall Mammogram Source Type: news