Women with high breast density are generally linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Doctors suggest that not all women with high breast tissue are at a high risk of breast cancer.

It is believed that high breast density is having a high risk of breast cancer, and it is also difficult to detect by screening tumors from X –rays.

Researchers have gathered the data to find out the level of cancer risk for women with dense breast tissue.

Researchers are from the University of California, San Francisco.

They found that the only 24 percent of women with breast that are extremely dense or which are dense throughout are at a high level of risk, only if they have additional level of risk factors including ethnicity, age or family health history of cancer.

Karla Kerlikowske at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center said, “Breast density should not be the sole criterion for deciding whether supplemental imaging is justified because not all women with dense breasts have high interval cancer rates.”

Around 45 percent of women have dense breast but it does not mean that they should go for extra tests such as ultrasound exams or MRI.

Kerlikowske said, “We found that for the vast majority of women undergoing mammography – including those with dense breasts but low five-year breast cancer risk – the chance of developing breast cancer within 12 months of a normal mammogram was low.”

Dense breast tissue on a mammogram should go for further testing has been in debate for some time.

22 US states have also put laws under which doctors who receive mammogram of dense breast should discuss about further screening tests with their patients.

Kerlikowske said, “You can’t do supplemental screening for 45 percent of the population.”

She added, “It’s just not realistic, neither from a time nor cost standpoint.”

The findings of the study suggest that the breast density should not be the sole criterion to make decisions about additional breast cancer screening.