Women urged to put breast density knowledge at the top of their Christmas list
- 86% of UK women do not know their breast density in spite of it being a major breast cancer risk factor
- This is because the UK lags behind the US, where women are routinely told their breast density when receiving results of a mammogram
- It is estimated that as many as 40% of women over the age of 40 have dense breasts, which additionally makes it harder to screen for cancer
- Micrima is urging the 23.8 million UK women who do not know their breast density, to give themselves the gift of prioritising it this Christmas and New Year
Bristol, 11 December 2024: Micrima, a Bristol-based health tech company, is urging women to give themselves the gift of prioritising knowledge of their breast density this Christmas.
Dense breast tissue is a relatively unknown but common breast cancer risk factor, which additionally makes it harder to screen for cancer. Micrima calculates that as many as 23.8 million women do not know their breast density, and are therefore vulnerable to cancer being left undetected.
Women are being asked to take the following steps:
- Read up about breast density from a reliable, professional source
- Discuss breast health with your female relatives to establish genetic patterns
- Ask about your breast density when you’re called for a mammogram
- Raise breast density with your GP and speak up about any concerns
These steps are being recommended in the hope that the most appropriate and effective screening approach will then be taken, tailored to a woman’s unique breast composition. This has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives lost to the late detection of breast cancer.
Adrian Waller, Micrima CEO, says: “This Christmas, women can give themselves a powerful gift: knowledge about breast density and asking for their own reading.
“If we want more positive outcomes for breast cancer, women need to be armed with information. Sadly, it is now up to women to advocate for themselves, in the absence of UK ruling requiring healthcare providers to share breast density information.
“By simply understanding and asking about their own breast density, women have the collective power to improve the outcomes for breast cancer nationally, and for the long term. This is what we have seen in the US, where the FDA has finally ruled for all women to receive their breast density reading with mammogram results.
“My Christmas wish is for the UK to stop ignoring breast density to ensure better outcomes for women and, crucially, fewer lives lost.”
Micrima recently conducted research that proved why women need the gift of knowledge this Christmas; 86% of women in the UK do not know their breast density (1), in spite dense b (2) and pose a barrier to breast cancer detection (3).
The survey reveals that two thirds (67%) of women in the UK are unaware that having dense breasts makes it harder to screen for breast cancer using standard methods - with one in twenty (5%) thinking it makes it easier, and one in six (16%) believing it makes no difference.
Micrima estimates that four million** women over the age of 40 in the UK have dense breasts and don't realise that they are at greater risk.
Micrima has developed specialised scanning technology, Mi~Scan®, that analyses breast tissue quickly, painlessly, and without ionising radiation or the need for a hospital visit. Following one simple scan, medical practitioners are better equipped to select the right diagnostic test for cancer detection, which has the potential to improve outcomes for thousands of women.
The device is already in the clinical trial phase and an application for European CE marking under the Medical Device Regulations has been submitted. Micrima anticipates the technology will be available in the UK and Europe in 2025.
