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Breast density— the cancer risk factor millions of women may not know about
Data suggests millions of women in the UK aren’t being told their breast density, despite it being a risk factor for cancer.
New research, published during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, has revealed a stark lack of awareness around breast density among UK women.
Just under half (40 per cent) of women over the age of 40 have dense breasts —breasts with more fibrous or glandular tissue and less fat—with Asian women more likely to have dense breasts than women of other ethnicities.
While it is normal for breast density to vary from woman to woman, studies have shown that those with extremely dense breasts are four to six times more likely to get breast cancer than a woman with fatty breast density.
It is also understood that having dense breasts makes it harder to detect breast cancer through mammography, the standard screening method worldwide.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women globally, affecting around two million women every year, with over 56,000 new cases in the UK alone. Early diagnosis is key, with over 90 per cent of women surviving for five years or more, when it is diagnosed in the early stages.
But the new research, conducted by Bristol-based health tech company, Micrima, found that 86% of women in the UK (around 23.8 million) don’t know their breast density. In fact, they are six times more likely to know their childhood phone number.
The survey, conducted in partnership with Opinium, also revealed that two thirds (67 per cent) of women are unaware that having dense breasts makes it harder to screen for breast cancer using standard methods, with one in 20 (five per cent ) thinking it makes it easier, and one in six (16 per cent) believing it makes no difference.
Based on this, Micrima estimates that as many as four million women over the age of 40 in the UK have dense breasts and don’t know they are at greater risk of developing cancer.
“I had no idea I had dense breasts”
Clare Cowhig was one of those women. She was diagnosed with invasive ductal cancer in both breasts in 2018 at the age of 50.
Despite having a clear mammogram nine months previous, she booked a private ultrasound after becoming concerned about an unusual area on her breast.
Clare was told by the sonographer that she had “the densest breasts they had ever seen” and was questioned about why she hadn’t been having MRIs due to the reduced sensitivity of mammography to find tumours in dense breasts.
“Despite my significant family history of breast cancer, and having had mammograms annually since I was 41, I had no idea I had dense breasts, or why that was significant,” says Clare.
Clare believes her cancer could have been detected sooner.
“Unfortunately, after further investigation, it was confirmed I had an invasive ductal cancer in each breast. I had highly dense breasts and these tumours never showed up on my mammograms. One tumour was stage-three and over five centimetres, the other was stage two and two centimetres. I had further areas of ‘in-situ’ disease in both.”
Following the sonographer’s comments, Clare requested her hospital records and discovered that her dense breast tissue had been noted after each of her annual mammograms, yet the information was never shared with her. Now she believes that had she been aware of this, the cancer may have been detected sooner.
“If I had been told about my dense breasts, I would have sought additional screening,” she adds.
“I believe my tumours could have been found at a smaller and less advanced stage and I wouldn’t have had to endure such extensive treatment, including a double mastectomy.”
Lack of awareness is “deeply concerning”
Adrian Waller, CEO of Micrima, which has developed a specialised scanning technology to analyse breast tissue without the need for a hospital visit, described the lack of awareness in the UK as “deeply concerning”.
“Breast density is known within the medical community, but it is not part of the standard pathway for either breast cancer screening or symptomatic service,” Waller explains.
“Our medical services have not had the resources or capacity to provide the supplemental testing required to improve detection rates for women with dense breasts.
“This is compounded as currently the only way of measuring breast density is from a woman’s initial mammogram. Until the development of Micrima’s RF based device Mi~Scan®, there hasn’t been the technology available to measure breast density simply and effectively.”
Mi~Scan®, which has shown “strong initial results” in the clinical trial phase, is designed to analyse breast tissue quickly and painlessly— without ionising radiation— to help clinicians identify the right diagnostic test for cancer detection.
“We want women to be empowered with the knowledge of their breast density so they can be in greater control of their breast health,” continues Waller.
“We also want to support the medical and radiology communities to explore and build in density measurement within the breast screening pathway, enabling more efficient delivery of personalised diagnostic pathways.”
CEO of Micrima, Adrian Waller, is calling for government regulation.
Calls for government regulation
Awareness of breast density is thought to be higher in the US, where a new FDA ruling – introduced earlier this month – requires all mammography reports and results sent to patients to include an assessment of breast density.
Waller and others are also calling for similar regulation in the UK.
“We would like to see the Government regulate around women being told their breast density when they receive results from a mammogram – much like has happened in the States,” he adds.
“Ultimately, we would like women to have their breast density measured routinely at a community level, in order for GPs or Community Diagnostic Centres to create an individualised risk profile for each of their patients.”
“Lifting the lid” on breast density
Leslie Ferris Yerger, founder and CEO of the charity My Density Matters, was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer in 2017, just two months after a routine mammogram and ultrasound gave her the ‘ all clear’.
“Hidden by dense breast tissue, my cancer was left to grow and spread,” she says.
“Breast density is so important and Micrima’s research spotlights that we must do more to lift the lid on breast density and let women know why it matters. We need to empower women with knowledge so they can take ownership of their breast health. When we catch cancer sooner, the chances of survival are greater.”
Housing, work and fertility pressures are stopping many Britons growing the families they want, new research suggests.
A UK fertility report found that 79 per cent of people surveyed who had tried to conceive in the past five years would like more children than they currently have.
Among parents with one child, that figure rises to 88 per cent.
The report surveyed more than 1,000 people across the UK who had tried for a baby in the past five years.
While birth rates continue to fall, the findings suggest it is not because people no longer want children. Instead, many respondents said external pressures are making it harder to grow their families.
The findings, from wellness brand Wild Nutrition’s Fertility Disconnect report, highlight how financial pressures, fertility struggles and gaps in reproductive health knowledge are shaping modern family life in the UK.
Gail Madalena, fertility nutritional therapist at Wild Nutrition, said: “People often assume fertility begins the moment they decide to try [for a baby].
“In reality, egg and sperm health are shaped months and years earlier.
“By the time someone starts thinking about fertility, their body has already been responding to its environment for a long time.”
Among the biggest barriers, 26 per cent said career progression affected their family plans, 25 per cent cited housing affordability and lack of space, and 52 per cent said they required medical intervention during their fertility journey.
The report also found that almost a quarter of respondents had spent more than two years trying to conceive.
Trying for a baby can take a significant toll on mental health and relationships, especially for those navigating fertility treatment.
According to the research, 38 per cent of respondents said trying to conceive had negatively affected their mental health. That figure rose to 99 per cent among people undergoing fertility treatment.
Julianne Boutaleb is a perinatal psychologist.
She said: “Navigating a fertility journey is about so much more than medical appointments and procedures.
“It’s an emotional marathon that can take a huge toll on your mental wellbeing.
“Sadly, the stats show that 15 per cent of couples going through fertility treatment say their relationship has been irrevocably impaired.”
The report also highlighted the realities of secondary infertility, which affects around one in 20 people, challenging the assumption that having one child means conceiving again will be straightforward.
Researchers found many people felt under-informed about fertility, particularly younger adults.
Ten per cent of Gen Z respondents said they “know nothing” about fertility, while only one in five respondents said they know “a lot” about egg health.
The report also found that 60 per cent of women were unaware of fertility testing options, and one in five Gen Z respondents said they felt uncomfortable discussing fertility, even with their partner.
Around 40 per cent of those surveyed supported fertility education being included in schools, covering topics such as egg health, sperm health and hormonal health.
The report also explored how lifestyle and long-term health may influence fertility outcomes.
Many respondents said they only made changes once they started trying to conceive.
Some 44 per cent improved their diet when trying for a baby, while 32 per cent reduced alcohol intake at that stage.
The report also referenced emerging research that suggests ultra-processed foods and microplastics could have an impact on reproductive health.
While fertility conversations often focus on women, the findings showed male fertility issues are also affecting many families.
Seventeen per cent of respondents cited sperm health issues as a barrier to conception, while male factors contribute to around half of all fertility challenges.
Only one in four men said they would share fertility struggles with friends.
“Many causes of male infertility are entirely treatable yet so often the last resort is the first response,” said Ian Stones, co-founder at Test Him Ltd.
The findings come as UK birth rates remain below replacement level.
The report noted that the UK fertility rate is now 1.41, meaning that on average women give birth to 1.41 children over their lifetimes. The replacement rate, or rate that maintains population numbers, is 2.1.
It also said the average age of mothers has risen to 31, while birth rates are falling across most age groups except among over-40s.
“There is no single fertility story, and it is rarely a simple, linear narrative,” said Dr Zeynep Gurtin, lecturer in women’s health at UCL.
Dr Gurtin added that better fertility education, fairer access to treatment and more open conversations around infertility and pregnancy loss are needed.
Femtech World is thrilled to reveal the shortlist for the Fertility Innovation Award.
The award, sponsored by FinDBest IVF, celebrates a pioneering product, service or initiative that is transforming fertility care and support.
FinDBest IVF is a global B2B digital platform created to simplify and accelerate how IVF and ART manufacturers connect with trusted, pre-vetted distributors around the world.
This year’s nominees represent a remarkable breadth of approaches to fertility care: from clinic-floor breakthroughs to at-home hormone intelligence to truly borderless access.
Three companies made the cut, with each tackling a real, persistent barrier in reproductive health.
Congratulations to the shortlist and many thanks to everyone who entered.
Fertility Innovation Award Shortlist
HRC Fertility’s Needle-Free IVF is a pioneering advancement designed to transform one of the most challenging aspects of fertility treatment: daily hormone injections.
Developed by board-certified reproductive endocrinologist Dr Rachel Mandelbaum, this innovative approach reimagines how stimulation medications are delivered during IVF and egg freezing, dramatically improving the patient experience while maintaining the same trusted clinical outcomes.
Inspired by feedback from patients who struggled with the injection process, Dr Mandelbaum adapted an innovative drug-delivery system commonly used in other areas of medicine and applied it to reproductive care
Mira is a hormonal health technology company that provides lab-grade hormone testing and AI-driven insights to help women and couples understand their fertility.
The platform has already supported more than 200,000 couples on their fertility journeys worldwide, helping over 60,000+ users achieve pregnancy.
For some users, pregnancy rates have reached up to 89 per cent within six months, demonstrating how accurate hormone data can significantly improve fertility outcomes.
Founded in 2021 by Marija Skujina, a Certified Fertility Nurse Specialist accredited by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, with nearly 15 years of clinical experience at one of the world’s top IVF clinics, and having navigated her own fertility journey as a patient, Marija built the clinic she had always wished existed.
Plan Your Baby began with a bold, but simple mission – make best quality fertility and pregnancy available anywhere.
Plan Your Baby has created a new generation fertility and pregnancy clinic with patients accessing expert consultations remotely, while blood tests and ultrasound scans are available at over 450 locations across the UK, eliminating the exhausting travel burden that often forces people to take days off work, relocate appointments, or abandon treatment altogether
What happens now
The shortlist will be judged by a representative from category sponsor FindBestIVF, with the winner announced at a virtual event on June 19.
Winners will receive a trophy and be interviewed by a Femtech World journalist.
A common cholesterol drug could help weaken a fluid shield that helps ovarian cancer tumours survive, early lab findings suggest.
The findings do not show the drug treats ovarian cancer. But they suggest changing the environment the cancer depends on could make it more vulnerable to existing treatment.
A federally funded study at Duke University School of Medicine found that ascites, a build-up of fluid in the abdomen, may do more than cause discomfort.
Doctors can drain ascites to ease pain, improve mobility and make breathing easier, but the fluid may also help cancer cells survive and spread. It occurs in 90 per cent of people with advanced ovarian cancer.
According to the study, ascites acts as a shield, helping cancer cells evade ferroptosis, a form of cell death.
Ferroptosis is a kind of cellular rusting. It happens when iron inside a cell reacts with certain fats, causing the cell membrane to break apart.
Many metastatic cancer cells, meaning cells that float freely through the abdomen looking for new places to grow, are naturally vulnerable to this kind of damage.
“Doctors have mostly viewed ascites as a symptom rather than an active driver of disease,” said Jen-Tsan Chi, professor in the department of molecular genetics and microbiology and co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program at the Duke Cancer Institute.
“We’ve learned it gives cancer a survival advantage, which fills a major gap in understanding how ovarian cancer spreads.”
Scientists bathed cancer cell lines and patient-derived tumour cells in ascites collected from patients and watched how they responded to ferroptosis triggers.
The fluid protected cancer cells by changing how they store fats and control iron levels, effectively blocking cell death.
The protection required only trace amounts, with as little as 2 per cent immersion shielding cancer cells from destruction.
“What surprised us was how selective this effect was,” said Yasaman Setayeshpour, first author and graduate student in molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke School of Medicine.
“Ascites didn’t protect the cancer cells from other well-known types of cell death, like apoptosis or necrosis, it only blocked ferroptosis.
“To figure out why, we broke ascites down into major parts, like lipids, proteins, and small molecules, and tested what happened when each was removed.
“When we took the lipids out, the protective effect disappeared. That told us lipids are the key reason ascites helps these cancer cells survive.”
But researchers found an unexpected helper in bezafibrate, an older cholesterol drug used to lower triglycerides by altering how the body processes fats.
The cholesterol drug restored sensitivity to ferroptosis, but only when ascites was present. On its own, the drug did not trigger cell death or slow tumour growth in mice.
The drug’s impact depended on the cancer’s surroundings, in this case the fat-rich fluid bathing the tumour. Researchers found that targeting this environment, using repurposed drugs like bezafibrate, could leave cancer cells more exposed to existing cancer treatments.
Chi said the finding could have implications beyond ovarian cancer. Other cancers, including colorectal and pancreatic cancers, can also spread within the abdominal cavity.
“This work shows how much the environment around a tumour matters,” Chi said.
“Biological fluids like ascites don’t just give cancer cells a place to move. They actively help drive how cancer spreads.”
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