Diagnosed with dense breast tissue: What exactly does that mean?

Question: I just had a mammogram, and I was told that I have dense breast tissue. What does that mean?

Answer: About half of women are considered to have dense breasts, based on the appearance of their breast tissue on a mammogram. The main concerns about dense breast tissue are that it makes breast cancer screening more complex and increases the risk of breast cancer. Here are some answers to questions you might have:

What is dense breast tissue?

Breast tissue is composed of milk glands, milk ducts and supportive tissue, which make up dense tissue. Breasts also include fatty tissue, which is nondense tissue. When viewed on a mammogram, dense breasts have more dense tissue than fatty tissue.

Nondense breast tissue typically appears dark and transparent on a mammogram. In contrast, dens