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#DenseBreastDiaries
We have launched social media campaign #DenseBreastDiaries. Patient stories about the very-real-life screening and risk implications of dense tissue are powerful “get-educated” incentives. We are featuring patient-story video snippets and will be releasing one every two weeks. Once posted, the videos are available HERE.

Reminder: DB-I Abstract
Look for DB-I’s abstract, “Referring Healthcare Provider Knowledge Gaps about Breast Cancer Risk Model Use and High-Risk Screening Recommendations,” at the 2021 SBI/ACR Breast Imaging Virtual Symposium. The abstract will be featured in the virtual e-Poster Gallery which can be accessed directly from the Symposium website.

It’s back! As previously reported, the state of Kentucky’s density “inform” law expired on January 1, 2021.  An amendment to that statute has been signed by the governor which reinstates the inform law (effective approximately July 1, 2021 and in effect through January 1, 2025).

With this reinstatement, there are now 38 states and the District of Columbia that require some level of patient “density” notification. Please see the updated DB-I legislative map or legislative analysis tables (in alpha or law effective date order) for more info.

The Risk Model Tutorial / “Risk Models Explanation” section has been updated and includes recent research on the use of AI to identify textural and other findings beyond breast density on mammograms to predict increased breast cancer risk.

Look for DB-I’s abstract, “Referring Healthcare Provider Knowledge Gaps about Breast Cancer Risk Model Use and High-Risk Screening Recommendations,” at the 2021 SBI/ACR Breast Imaging Virtual Symposium. The abstract will be featured in the virtual e-Poster Gallery which can be accessed directly from the Symposium website.

New Research
Just published in Radiology, Supplemental Breast MRI for Women with Extremely Dense Breasts: Results of the Second Screening Round of the DENSE Trial.  Conclusion: “The incremental cancer detection rate in the second round was 5.8 per 1000 screening examinations—compared with 16.5 per 1000 screening examinations in the first round. This was accompanied by a strong reduction in the number of false-positive results.”

Review and commentary on the study HERE.

We are on a roll! Our popular Patient Fact Sheet is now available in 20 languages. Newest additions are Chinese and Russian  versions.  Many thanks to Dr. Steven Cai and Savannah (Qian) Sun for the Chinese translation and to Dr. Olena Weaver and Dr. Olga Puchkova for the Russian version.

Music in the Air

DB-I Education Supporter and European Society of Radiology (ESR) President Prof. Dr. Michael Fuchsjäger shared his operatic talent to open ECR 2021, please enjoy:  https://www.auntminnieeurope.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=619889

 

 

 

 

 

A new study published in Radiology finds that consecutive screening mammograms decrease breast cancer mortality.  Analysis showed that the risk of a fatal breast cancer within 10 years of diagnosis was 50% lower for women who participated in their last two most recent mammography screenings before a breast cancer diagnosis. Read more: Beneficial Effect of Consecutive Screening Mammography Examinations on Mortality from Breast Cancer: A Prospective Study

Patient Fact Sheets

To assist with global patient education efforts, DB-I Patient Fact Sheet translations are available in 18 languages – now including Japanese and Korean.  We extend our gratitude to Dr. Noriaki Ohuchi and Dr. Jung Min Chang for their translation assistance.

Scheduling Mammograms and the COVID Vaccine

JUST OUT:  SBI’s Patient Care and Delivery Committee has developed a patient-friendly version of SBI Screening Recommendations for Women Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine.

DB-I website content is under constant review by our Medical Advisory Board experts. This week the following Health Provider FAQs have been updated to incorporate recent research:

1. FAQ  #5.  Do dense breasts affect the risk of developing breast cancer?
2. FAQ #32. How do I identify women who are at higher risk who should have MRI?
3. FAQ #51. What is the recommended breast screening for women with disease-causing mutations?

Education Supporter News

Just out in Imaging Technology News, an interview with DB-I Education Supporter, Professor Christiane Kuhl, MD,  Use of Breast MRI Screening in Women With Dense Breasts.

The 6th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science was celebrated last Thursday, February 11th. The day highlights the important role women and girls play in science and technology. We are so fortunate to have an international team of dedicated women doctors who work year-round to assist in keeping DenseBreast-info.org an up-to-date and accurate resource on breast density. We were delighted to recognize these amazing women!

Research

New study findings from Incorporating Baseline Breast Density When Screening Women at Average Risk for Breast Cancer advocate for breast density–stratified screening frequency with baseline mammography at age 40 years followed by annual screening at age 40 to 75 years for women with dense breasts and biennial screening at age 50 to 75 years for women without dense breasts.

Recently, we heard from a patient who took action because she saw DB-I info in a storefront window. Community education saves lives!

“I have dense breasts and during my morning walk kept seeing the sign posted in the storefront. Finally it made me get an MRI which found a small malignant lump. It’s very early and I’m lucky. But you saved my life.” #DenseBreasts #FindItEarly

European Screening Guidelines

Update: Information on breast screening protocols in Bulgaria have been added to the European Screening Guidelines map and corresponding table.

Breast Cancer Update / World Health Organization

The World Health Organization announced this week that breast cancer has overtaken lung cancer as the most common form of the disease. As a result, this year the WHO will begin hosting a series of consultations in order to establish a new global breast cancer initiative to reduce deaths from breast cancer – including improving timely cancer detection. Learn more HERE.

WEBSITE NEWS: European Content

The European Screening Decision Support Tool has just been updated. The tool represents a screening protocol to optimize cancer detection; individual countries vary in screening guidelines, available technologies, and informing women of breast density. Please see the European Screening Guidelines map for country-specific information.

New Research Article

AI evaluation of the mammogram alone may identify women at high risk better than risk models based on family history, biopsies, and/or genetic testing.  In the study by Yala et al, Mirai, a risk model developed at MGH to assess breast cancer risk from screening mammograms, more accurately identified high-risk patients than the Tyrer-Cuzick v8 risk model and prior deep learning models. Mirai identified 41.5% of women developing breast cancer in the next five years as high-risk, compared to only 22.9% with the Tyrer-Cuzick model v8. Mirai performed similarly across all density categories. (Yala A, Mikhael PG, Strand F, et al. Toward robust mammography-based models for breast cancer risk. Sci Transl Med. 2021;13(578):eaba4373. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aba4373)

Patient Tools

New! Patient Fact Sheets are now available in Danish and Dutch! This one-page downloadable resource is available in 16 languages – because breast density education matters everywhere.

 

U.S. Legislation Resources

Did you know the DenseBreast-info.org relaunch includes new legislation resource tools?:

1. There is now a “Download Map” option on the map page for presentation use.
2. The table featuring state-by-state comparison of inform/insurance laws is now available in both state alpha order and by enactment date of inform law order.

Risk Model Tutorial Update

New update! In addition to the known rare genetic mutations that increase breast cancer risk, there is increasing interest on the impact of more common variations on breast cancer risk. We have added a discussion of polygenic risk score to our Risk Model Tutorial / “Diagnostic Considerations” section.

2020 Recap

Thanks to you and with your help, in addition to the website launch, we had several more 2020 highlights:

1. Despite COVID, we had over 200,000 visits to the website
2. There were over 6,000 downloads of educational PDFs
3. We introduced Patient Fact Sheets in 14 languages (more coming!)
4. There are a growing number of groups linking to/sharing DB-I resources

NEWS! Website Relaunch:
We’re welcoming change in the New Year! The DenseBreast-info.org website has been relaunched. In addition to a new look, the website now houses downloadable patient resources all under one roof – including patient fact sheets in 14 languages and a Spanish language hub. We’ve also updated our provider resources, improved our blog and press hub, and added downloads on state density inform laws.  Learn more HERE.

State Legislation Update:
Kentucky’s 2017  “density inform” law was written with a “sunset clause” and, unfortunately, expired on 1/1/21. DB-I website legislative content has been updated to reflect this change, including the map visual. Please note, the updated count for U.S. states that have some level of mandatory inform is 37.  There are now 4 states (Indiana, Kentucky, Maine and No Dakota) that have efforts for breast density reporting/education that do not require notification.