Women who participate in BreastScreen are not routinely told about their mammographic density. However, in Western Australia, BreastScreen WA does provide women, and their GPs, with information on mammographic density if the radiologist assesses them as having dense breasts. BreastScreen WA advises women with dense breasts to see their GPs for regular breast examinations and to be ‘breast aware’. The BreastScreen WA advice to GPs is that women with dense breasts who are at an intermediate risk of breast cancer due to a family history, a personal history of breast cancer, or other risk factors including premalignant lesions, may benefit from supplementary breast ultrasound. 

Preliminary results from a study exploring the impact of BreastScreen WA notifying women that they have dense breasts are available on the INFORMD website.

If you are interested in getting more information about your mammographic density, we encourage you to ask your screening centre or GP if they can advise you.