Dense breasts are something that affect 50% of women, rendering mammograms less effective. Several states have mandated that women be provided information on their breast density so that they know this limitation of mammography. In some cases mammograms miss tumors, in others they mistake the dense breast tissue for a tumor resulting in extra tests and worry.
For several years at Prenuvo we have been pioneering a special no radiation MRI approach to clearly see lesions within dense breast tissue. On several occasions we have have found lesions in patients who recently had negative mammograms, providing them the opportunity to receive treatment much earlier than they otherwise would.
In 2018, our approach, called DWI, has started to build traction, with top academic hospitals publishing studies showing its effectiveness. If you are a citizen scientist, recent research is summarized here and here and in this clinical review here. If you have dense breasts or a history of breast cancer in your family, they are worth a read.
My goal in starting Prenuvo was to stop people dying from advanced disease, by catching and treating it early. For women, my focus has been on developing better approaches to diagnosing breast cancer and on screening for ovarian cancer, a cancer that is particularly deadly because it causes few symptoms before it becomes advanced.
Posted by Andrew Lacy
Founder & CEO
