Ga. House passes Rep. Cooper’s breast cancer bill
Mammograms could change in Georgia if the Senate passes a new bill sponsored by state Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-East Cobb.
House Bill 62, also known as Margie’s Law, would mandate that mammogram providers inform women of their breast tissue density. The bill passed the House 166-1 on Monday, with the sole nay vote coming from Rep. Matt Gurtler, R-Tiger. Not voting were state Reps. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, and Mary Frances Williams, D- Marietta. The bill now moves to the Senate.
Dr. Jay G. Patel, a breast imaging radiologist with Quantum Radiology, which provides imaging services for WellStar, said breasts are primarily made of three types of tissue: fatty, connective and glandular. Every woman has a different mix of the three, but breasts with a lot of glandular tissue are considered dense.
“Dense breast tissue is not a pathology, it’s not an abnormality to have extremely dense breasts,” he said. “It’s just the way the breast is composed.”
But Patel said it is important for women to know whether they have dense breast tissue because glandular tissue is the type of tissue where breast cancer forms. Patel said having more of that tissue means there is more opportunity for breast cancer to form. Glandular tissue can also make it more difficult to detect cancer during a mammogram because it may block the microscopic cancer cells from view.
That means women with dense breasts may want to talk to their health care providers about whether it would be beneficial to be tested more frequently or receive different types of tests, depending on their risk factors and family history.
Cooper said Margie’s Law is intended to make it easier for women to have those conversations. If the bill gets Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature, mammogram patients will receive a summary with their results telling them what it means to have dense breast tissue and recommending they talk to their provider about additional testing.
“We’re not trying to scare women. We’re just trying to let them know about dense breast tissue,” she said. “That’s why we encourage women — and men, men can get breast cancer, too — if they get this summary back from a mammogram, to discuss it with their health care provider to see if they need any extra type of test.”