Breast Cancer Foundation calls for mandatory dense tissue reporting

The Breast Cancer Foundation is advocating for mandatory reporting of breast density to improve cancer detection. The push follows the experience of Dionne Scott, a 50-year-old Whanganui resident who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2024 after routine mammograms and ultrasounds failed to detect a physical lump.

Medical data indicates that approximately one in 10 women have extremely dense breast tissue. In these cases, tumors and dense tissue both appear white on a mammogram, which can mask the presence of cancer. For women with this tissue type, standard mammograms may only detect about half of existing cancers.

Vanessa Sorenson, chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation, stated that the current one-size-fits-all screening approach fails this demographic. The foundation has included a call for improved density reporting and access to additional screening in its 2026 Election Manifesto.