One Type of Mammogram Proves Better for Women With Dense Breasts

May 23, 2025
By Roni Caryn Rabin

Contrast-enhanced mammography identified three times as many tumors as ultrasound scans. But it is not widely used for screening in the United States.

Cancer screening poses a quandary for women with dense breast tissue. They’re at elevated risk for breast cancer, but mammograms often miss tumors buried in dense breasts — and insurers often resist paying for additional scans that may help find the masses.

Now a large study comparing various types of scans has found that mammography enhanced with iodine-based dye can detect three times as many invasive cancers in dense breast tissue as ultrasound.