A new Food and Drug Administration requirement mandates that women receive information about their breast density on their mammogram report.

Breast density is a risk factor for cancer and can mask tumors on a mammogram, and as the mandate takes effect, there are new pushes to provide even more resources to women who need them.

Marianne Sarcich, a survivor, patient advocate and mother, remembers the morning when she found out she had breast cancer.

“It was like living in a Salvador Dalí painting,” Sarcich said of her diagnosis. “Everything was just so surreal or getting pushed through the looking glass, there was nothing that made sense to me anymore.”

It was a blur, she said. In the mountains of paperwork that would pile up during her treatment, a few words appeared in a document, saying she had “dense breast tissue.”

Sarcich said she knew nothing about it at the time.

“I knew so little that it just flew away,” she said.

Now, she said she won’t let it fly away for others. Sarcich is working tirelessly to arm women with the information they need to navigate a devastating diagnosis.

One important component of that information is knowing your breast density.

About 40% of women have dense breasts. You can’t tell from size, shape or appearance; it can only be determined with a mammogram. But having dense breasts increases the risk of cancer, and because dense breast tissue shows up white on a mammogram, it can mask tumors.

The requirement, now in effect, will mandate that universal language reaches every woman as part of the follow-up mammogram letter she receives in the mail, telling her if she has dense breasts and why it matters.

For Marianne Sarcich, it’s a pivotal moment that levels the playing field for women across America.

Still, she said it’s only a first step.

The requirement will also inform women that other imaging tests, like ultrasound or MRI, may help find cancers that could be missed with a mammogram. It’s something Sarcich said can spark crucial conversations with doctors.

Covering those cancers has become a full-court press for Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who has dense breast tissue herself.

She introduced the Find It Early Act last year to ensure that all insurance plans cover supplemental screenings for women with dense breasts.

The bill hasn’t advanced, but she remains hopeful.

Sarcich wants women to advocate for themselves now but is optimistic that Congress will come through.

“We are good at moving mountains, but it just takes some time,” she said.