Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, head of research communications and engagement at Breast Cancer Now, said:
"Having dense breasts can increase the risk of breast cancer developing and can also make it harder to accurately detect it using standard mammograms.
“This study has found that different types of imaging, a form of MRI and a different form of mammogram, can find tumours in women with very dense breasts that standard screening missed.
“The UK National Screening Committee now needs to consider this research as part of their current review to determine whether women with very dense breasts should be offered additional imaging during their routine screening.
“If the UK National Screening Committee recommends additional imaging for screening women with very dense breasts, we’ll push for those changes to be rolled out as quickly as possible across the UK.
“Routine breast screening is the most likely route to finding breast cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be successful. While we know that the current process can be less effective in detecting cancers in dense breasts, we still encourage all women to attend mammogram screening when invited.”
ENDS