On January 10, 2016, cancer won the battle. Cheri tragically died from an issue that many women aren’t even aware of: the inaccuracy of mammograms when it comes to dense breasts.

The information that you just read was adapted from a blog post that Cheri bravely wrote in an effort to teach women about the dangers of dense breasts. Cheri’s goal was simple: to advocate the need for women to be informed if and when they have dense breasts.

Unfortunately, Cheri’s story of having a false normal reading on a mammogram due to dense breasts is not unique. Scores of women have had the same experience.

You see, medical professionals estimate that 40 percent of women have dense breasts, though many women don’t know it. And how dense the breast is interferes with the accuracy of a mammogram. This is why Cheri’s mammograms came up normal, when in fact she had cancer.

Further, Cheri could have been informed of her elevated risk of breast cancer. Dense breasts are a PREDICTOR of cancer, but no one told her that either.

Even more concerning, it’s not tough to tell if a breast is dense on a mammogram. Healthcare professionals can determine if breasts are dense by reviewing the results. In dense breasts, the tissue appears white. That’s because they’re less fatty but more fibrous.

The question is: why are mammograms incorrect when it comes to dense breasts?

Dense breasts act as a mask of sorts. In general, cancer appears white on a mammogram, just like dense breasts. As a result, it’s tough to actually see cancer. This is why mammograms are thought to miss cancer in EVERY OTHER CASE when dense breasts are involved.