QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research have put together a team of QUT legal and medical researchers to investigate the legal issues around informing women of their breast density and the limitations of mammograms.  Key points from their recent news statement are:

• ‘Breast cancer can be missed on mammograms because both tumours and areas of dense breast tissue are virtually indistinguishable, both appearing white and bright on the mammogram.’
• ‘“Extremely high” breast density is associated with a four-to-six fold high risk of breast cancer compared to very low breast density.’
• ‘This poses medical questions but also legal ones for doctors, says Associate Professor Tina Cockburn from QUT’s Australian Centre for Health Law Research, who heads a team of QUT legal and medical researchers investigating legal issues around informing women of their breast density and the limitations of mammograms.’
• ‘“In the US, some states have enacted legislation mandating that doctors inform women about their breast density and the health implications of MD, but there is debate about whether these laws are necessary and desirable,” said Professor Cockburn.’
• ‘“In Australia, apart from general legal issues arising from missed breast cancer diagnoses, little research has been done on addressing the ethics, law and policy around MD research findings on the increased risk of cancer and risk of its being missed by mammogram.”‘
• ‘Professor Rik Thompson said a growing body of medical knowledge on breast cancer risk associated with mammographic density, indicated that approximately 45 per cent of women were in the top two density categories, giving them a four to six fold increased risk of breast cancer in their lifetime.  “But when we add the masking effects of MD, the risk rises to a 17-fold increase in finding a breast cancer within a year of a negative mammogram,” Professor Thompson said.’
•  ‘“Mammograms are still the screening mechanism of choice, but women with higher mammographic density should understand that they are in a group that has a bigger risk of breast cancer, and that mammography may be missing some breast cancers.”‘
• ‘“As well as the molecular and cellular causes on mammographic density and the associated breast cancer risk, more research into the legal aspects of mammographic density is required, hence the need for this joint research project.”’
• ‘Professor Cockburn said the team’s project aim was to assess the current legal and regulatory frameworks in Australia and internationally to inform policy on how best to regulate the communication of MD information to women to improve breast screening program’s effectiveness.  “Mandatory reporting legislation in 28 US states is not universally accepted as beneficial, because while we do know about the increased risk, there is no clear course of action that is proven,” she said’
• ‘The QUT research team is made up of Professor Cockburn, Professor Belinda Bennett and Tracey Carver from the QUT Australian Health Law Research Centre, and Professor Rik Thompson and Dr Honor Hugo from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation.‘