Doctors have said it’s a wrong perception among many women that evidence of dense breast tissue in a mammogram means higher risk of breast cancer. They do not require further imaging tests, but still go for them to know their chances. They said it is known that there is a link between breast density and an increased cancer risk, but it no way proves that all women with dense breast tissue are surrounded by high risk of breast cancer.

A study was conducted by researchers at the University of California San Francisco to determine precise level of risk for women with dense breast issue.

The study results showed that only 24% of women with breasts that are either extremely dense tissue or which are dense throughout are at increased level of breast cancer risk. The risk is there only if additional risk factors are present.

“Breast density should not be the sole criterion for deciding whether supplemental imaging is justified because not all women with dense breasts have high interval cancer rates”, said researcher Karla Kerlikowske at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and her colleagues. Findings of the study have been reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The researchers said that around 45% women live with dense breasts, but that does not mean that they need to get themselves checked through extra tests to determine their risk of developing breast cancer.

Kerlikowske said so many women are unnecessarily undergoing mammography, including those with dense breasts but low five-year breast cancer risk.

It is wrong to have breast density as the sole criterion to guide decisions about supplemental breast cancer screening, said Nancy Dolan and Mita Sanghavi Goel from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.