TAMPA, Fla. — This week, updated FDA regulations took effect to ensure those important mammogram screening reports include information about breast density.
It's a change many hope will catch breast cancer at a much earlier stage.
“I was actually stage two when they diagnosed me,” said Ashley Lloyd. “It was supposed to be slow growing, and within two and a half weeks, it had doubled in size and turned me into stage three.”
In 2021, Lloyd was diagnosed with breast cancer at 36 years old.
“I did about ten seconds of crying, and then I was like, there are women all over the world that get this, and they’re okay, and I’m going to be one of those women," said Lloyd.
According to the CDC, about one in eight women will get breast cancer during their life.
Now as of this week, a new FDA rule requires that patient’s mammogram reports must include information on their breast density.
“Some women have been getting notifications about their breast density, but it’s not been standardized, and so that’s the difference is that now everybody’s going to be getting the same information and the same notification,” said Dr. Rachel Burke, the Medical Director at AdventHealth Tampa’s Kay Meyer Breast Care Center.
The FDA reports about half of women over 40 in the US have dense breast tissue, which the agency says can make cancers harder to detect on a mammogram. On top of that, the FDA noted dense breasts have been identified as a risk factor for developing breast cancer.
Dr. Burke said don’t skip your mammogram, even with dense breasts.
“That’s why these letters are important is to start a conversation with providers and with patients to say by the way, you have dense breast tissue. It’s important to know that because you might, you might, need additional screening,” said Burke.
“It will help so many women,” said Lloyd.
Today, Lloyd is cancer-free. She’s also the Director of the Breast Cancer Foundation of Central Florida, helping provide hope and support to patients and survivors every step of the way.
“You may think you’re the only one. Well, who else would be diagnosed with this,” said Lloyd. “Well there’s a support group you can sit in somewhere that will tell you someone has your exact same diagnosis somewhere, and they will hold your hand through it.”
