What is “dense” breast tissue? Breasts contain fat, glandular tissue, and connective tissue. On a mammogram, fat appears as dark areas, and the other tissue types tend to appear as white areas.

The study showed that dense tissue contains more epithelium tissue (milk glands and duct cells) and stroma tissue (which is connective tissue) and much less fat compared with non-dense tissue.

“So essentially dense breast tissue refers to the amount of milk ducts and connective tissue in the breast,” said Dr. Laura Dean, a diagnostic radiologist for Cleveland Clinic.

These dense connective tissues made up of collagen fiber are generally present in body joints such as ankles, elbows, knees and shoulders.

Nearly half of women over 40 have dense breasts, which raises their risk of breast cancer. Mammograms should now include an assessment of breast tissue density.

Mammography detects only 48 percent of tumors in women with dense breast tissue. Breast density compares the area of breast and connective tissue seen on a mammogram with the area of fat.

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Breasts are composed of fat, connective tissue that holds the breasts together, and the part of the breast that makes milk when breastfeeding. Those tissues look different on a mammogram.

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Dense breast tissue is indicated when your mammogram reveals a high proportion of connective and glandular tissue, and a lower amount of fatty tissue.