Extra cancer screenings for women with dense breasts could save hundreds of lives, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge found extra scans for some women could identify an extra 3,500 early-stage cancers that can be “hidden” during regular mammograms.
Around 10% of women have very dense breasts, which means they have more fibrous and glandular tissue and less fatty tissue than other women.
These women are up to four times more likely to develop breast cancer compared to women with low breast density.
Mammogram images showing fatty/less dense (left) and dense (right) healthy breasts. Pic: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
More than 2.2 million women receive breast screening in the UK each year but mammograms, which are used for breast screening, can be less effective at detecting cancer in dense breasts.
This is because denser breasts look whiter on mammograms, which makes it harder to spot small early-stage cancers which also appear white.
Some 9,361 women across the UK with dense breasts whose mammograms showed they did not have cancer were studied in the trial, which has been published in the Lancet medical journal.
A total of 85 cancers were found among these women when the scientists trialled three extra testing methods.
Louise Duffield, a 60-year-old grandmother of four from Ely in Cambridgeshire, was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer as a result of the trial.
Louise Duffield had a previously undiagnosed tumour removed after taking part in the trial. Pic: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust/PA
In 2023, she was invited to take part following her regular mammogram, which showed that she had very dense breasts.
As part of the trial, Ms Duffield had an AB-MRI scan, a faster type of MRI, which identified a small lump deep inside one of her breasts.
Soon after the MRI, Ms Duffield had a biopsy that confirmed she had very early breast cancer within the ducts of one of her breasts.
Six weeks later, she had surgery to remove the tumour – by that time, it had already grown larger than it appeared on the scans.
“It’s been a stressful time and it’s a huge relief to have it gone,” said Ms Duffield. “The tumour was deep in the breast so if I hadn’t been on the trial, it could have gone unnoticed for years.”
Breast scans using CEM (left) and AB-MRI (right) show tumours not seen on mammograms. Pic: Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The location of her tumour meant it would have been hard for Ms Duffield to find through self-examination, and since it was not detected during her regular mammogram, it would have been at least three years before she was invited for another.
The two methods examined in the trial were contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM), where dye is used to make blood vessels more visible, and AB-MRIs.
The experts calculated that adding either of these methods to existing breast screening could detect 3,500 more cancers per year in the UK.
As screening reduces death for about 20% of cancers detected, this could mean an extra 700 lives saved each year, they said.
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A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Research is being conducted into the use of additional tests for women with dense breasts, as part of the NHS breast screening programme.
“The UK National Screening Committee is reviewing this evidence as it becomes available.”
