Lobbying the FDA to Mandate Breast Density Notification
February 8th, 2012
In November I traveled to DC to issue a statement to the FDA advisory committee regarding breast density. Several radiologists, breast cancer patients and advocates, representatives from the American College of Radiology, as well as Karen Handel from the Susan G. Komen foundation were on hand to render opinions regarding a new rule being considered by the FDA, which would mandate the inclusion of breast density information in the official mammogram report that goes to the referring doctor, and that the radiology facility providing a mammogram would directly…
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Good News For Early Detection in New Jersey!
January 20th, 2012
Thanks to the tireless efforts of dedicated grassroots patient advocates, NJ State Senators Loretta Weinberg and Nia Gill have sponsored a bill that will be brought before the next legislative session. This bill requires that all mammogram reports contain information on breast density, and requires insurers to cover comprehensive breast ultrasound screening if a mammogram demonstrates dense breast tissue. Studies have shown that adding an ultrasound to the mammogram for women with dense breasts results in a 50% increase in breast cancer detection.…
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8 Things You Can Do TODAY to Lower Your Risk of Advanced Breast Cancer
October 29th, 2011
Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends on Monday. Of course awareness is important, but knowing what specific actions you can take to protect yourself against the disease is empowering. Breast cancer can strike anyone, with or without risk factors. However, there are several things you can do NOW to lessen the likelihood of advanced breast cancer happening to you.
1. Lace up and take a walk! According to the Women’s Health Initiative study, women who walked just 30 minutes per day at least 5 days a week (exercise pace, not a leisurely stroll) decreased their…
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Breast Density Advocates on Good Morning America
October 13th, 2011
Nancy Cappello, PhD and JoAnn Pushkin were interviewed on Good Morning America last week, talking about their experiences as women doing “everything right”: mammograms every year, healthy lifestyle, annual checkups. Yet even though they were good, compliant patients, they both were diagnosed with advanced breast cancers. How did this happen? Well, they were never informed that they have dense breast tissue, which confers an increased risk for breast cancer, AND makes a mammogram so hard to read that up to half of cancers won’t be seen.
Since they were …
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What Breast Density Means to You
September 16th, 2011
Breast density is one of the strongest predictors of the failure of mammography to detect cancer. About half of women younger than 50 are dense, and 1/3 of women over 50 are dense. That’s a large number of women for whom mammography alone is not enough. Up to half of breast cancers cannot be seen on the mammogram in women with dense breasts. This leads to missed cancers that are discovered at later stages, resulting in more invasive treatments and a poorer prognosis. 40,000 women in the U.S. die each year from breast cancer. Some of these women had dense breasts and didn’t…
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