October 2025
If you’ve had a mammogram, you may have gotten back a result saying that you have “dense breast tissue.” If this is your first mammogram or you haven’t seen this result on previous mammogram reports, you may wonder what it means.
Dense breast tissue is quite common — about half of all women who have a mammogram will be told they have dense breast tissue. It doesn’t mean anything is currently wrong, though it may impact how — and how frequently — you should get screened for breast cancer.
What is dense breast tissue?
Your breasts are made up of different types of tissue. One type is called glandular tissue. This includes lobes (the small glands that produce milk) and ducts (the tiny tubes through which the milk flows to get to the nipple). The breasts also contain fibrous tissue and fat, which give them their shape and size, and hold everything else in place.
Your breast density tells you how much glandular and fibrous tissue your breasts have compared to how much fat they have. The less fat in your breasts (compared to fibrous and glandular tissue), the denser they are.
You can’t tell how dense your breasts are by how big they are or how firm they are. Only a radiologist can tell you your breast density, based on imaging from a mammogram.
Why is dense breast tissue potentially a problem?
There are two reasons breast density matters. First, women with denser breast tissue are more likely to develop breast cancer. And second, it is harder for radiologists to spot breast cancer on the mammogram of a woman with denser breasts.
What should women with dense breast tissue do?
According to the American Cancer Society, experts don’t agree on what (if anything) women with dense breasts should do differently in terms of screening. The two most important things you can do are talk with your doctor and get regular mammograms.
Be sure to tell your doctor about any family history of breast cancer or related cancers like ovarian cancer. Your doctor may recommend genetic counseling and/or genetic testing to determine your risk of developing breast cancer. Your family history and the finding of dense breast tissue may impact the type and frequency of screening your doctor recommends.
Women between the ages of 45 and 54 should get a mammogram annually. Women 55+ can get them annually or every other year, depending on their personal risk factors.
Additional types of breast cancer screening
There are three other types of breast cancer screening you should be aware of, especially if you have dense breast tissue.
3D mammograph (digital breast tomosynthesis). This type of mammogram can help catch breast cancer that may not show up on a regular 2D mammogram. Some studies have found that this type of mammogram may be more effective at detecting cancer in women with dense breasts. Larger studies are currently underway to confirm this finding. In the meantime, a 3D mammograph can be a good option — if you can find one. Not every imaging center has one.
Breast ultrasounds and breast MRIs. Both of these can help detect cancers that traditional 2D mammograms cannot. But they can also lead to more false positives (findings that turn out not to be breast cancer), leading to more testing, more stress, and more unnecessary biopsies.
