Being Dense

On May 27th members of Lobular Ireland Patient advocates their families and friends, gathered at Leinster House in Dublin to raise awareness about their ongoing campaign for Mandatory Breast Density Reporting for Women who have Mammograms in Ireland.

A delegation held a Briefing Session with Ministers of State and Elected Representatives from 1.00 to 2.00pm in Leinster House, the Irish Parliament. Speakers were introduced by Senator Nessa Cosgrove who facilitated the Briefing Session. Professor William Gallagher from UCD gave a clear insight on the biology of Breast Cancer, risk factors,  relevant research and results of recent Breast Density Clinical Trials. Martha Lovett Cullen and Siobhán spoke about their Personal experiences. Martha’s Mum Marian received her Stage 4 diagnosis only months after her routine Screening Mammogram was reported as clear. Marian’s Story (RIP) had a profound effect on many of those in the audience. Ministers in attendance expressed deep concern that this level of information is currently withheld from Women who avail of Breast Cancer Screening Mammograms.

They heard that almost 50% of our Breast Cancer Screening Population have Dense Breasts and for these Women Mammograms are not reliable enough to rule out the presence of Breast Cancer. Breast Density is assessed by the Radiologist reading the Mammogram Image but in Ireland Radiologists are not obliged or mandated to share this information with the Women screened.  This is hugely problematic because a Woman simply has no other way of knowing if she has Dense Breasts or not.

Breast Density is not palpable and has nothing to do with Breast size or shape. Up to 50% of Breast Cancers can be missed on Mammograms in Dense Breasts however and Women are calling on our Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to mandate for Standardised, Mandatory Breast Density Reporting in Ireland.

The Irish Breast Density Campaign began back in 2016 when Siobhán Freeney was diagnosed with Stage 3c Invasive Breast Cancer only 6 months after her routine Screening Mammogram was reported as clear. Siobhán was to discover some time later that her tumour was not seen on her Breast Cancer Screening Mammograms because she had Dense Breasts, something that had not previously been disclosed to her. She had never missed a Screening Mammogram but when she was diagnosed the 7 cm Invasive tumour had already spread to her axillary nodes and intra mammary nodes.

Women across the world have been advocating for Mandatory Breast Density Reporting for years. Siobhán is well recognised for her remarkable advocacy and efforts towards ensuring that Women in Ireland are informed about this issue. She has spoken at several International Conferences and regularly shares relevant research and evidence based information about Breast Density and Breast Cancer Screening on her Social Media platforms.

In 2024 the FDA introduced Legislation making it mandatory that every Woman who has a Mammogram is notified of whether she has Dense or Non Dense Breasts in her results letter. The women’s GPs will then be notified about the category of her Breast Tissue. Women who have Category C or D Breast Density are considered to have Dense Breasts.