MN doctors now must report dense breast tissue on mammograms

The standard "all-clear" letter sent after mammograms to tell women they are cancer-free is going to contain new and potentially troubling information for thousands of Minnesota women — the disclosure that they have dense tissue in their breasts that could cloud their cancer screenings. Minnesota mandated as of Aug. 1 that doctors notify women if their mammograms discover dense breast tissue, which can mask the presence of a tumor on an X-ray. "There is no shortage of women like me who have been harmed by their density and never knew it," said Nancy Cappello, a breast cancer survivor from Connecticut. She became an advocate for state-mandated disclosure of tissue density after mammograms failed to find her tumor until it was enlarged and her cancer had spread beyond her breast.