has revealed that a common condition affecting nearly half of all women over 40 made her breast cancer diagnosis akin to “trying to see a snowball in a snowstorm”. This meant that doctors were unable to diagnose her for over a year.
The 54 year old television presenter, who publicly announced her breast cancer diagnosis in 2021, attended numerous consultations. However, her tumour was overlooked twice due to her having “dense breasts.”
In a conversation with Davina McCall on the Begin Again podcast, Julia shared: “One doctor told me if you have dense breasts and you have a mammogram, tumours are invisible because its like looking for a snowball in a snowstorm.”
“It’s white on white – your whole breast looks whiter because of the tissue and so tumours show up white as well on mammograms.”
Despite undergoing an ultrasound, nothing was detected and the tumour was missed.
TV Presenter and author Julia Bradbury records a podcast interview with Tom Bryant on mental health and the outdoors. (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Recounting her battle with cancer, Bradbury discovered her lump while on assignment in Costa Rica in 2020. Recalling the incident, she said: “I was away on a job in Costa Rica…
“I was in a hotel and I was doing my breast checking, which I’ve always done very regularly and I found a lump. I looked in the mirror and I could see the lump in my skin.”
Following a remote consultation with her doctor amid the early confusion of Julia managed to secure a face-to-face appointment.
However, initial assessments missed the mark, as she recounted: “I ended up having a mammogram and an ultrasound and the diagnosis was you have benign micro-cysts.”
She recalled that after a year, the lump had become “painful to touch”, but a subsequent mammogram was deemed “nothing to worry about.”
Despite this, Julia continued to consult with her doctor. During a casual conversation about her recent holiday, he decided to “just give her an ultrasound” before she left.
“As he was looking at the ultrasound he took a sharp intake of breath and said ‘there’s something I don’t like’. The doctor noticed a “tiny dark prick” which led to a biopsy a few days later.
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Julia went to multiple consultations, but her tumour was missed twice (Image: Getty)
This was the first time she “shed a tear” as she realised “this is serious.” Three days later, she received her cancer diagnosis and found herself “on the rollercoaster.”
She explained: “I was at home because I’d engineered it that way – I was meant to have been on location. I was outside in my garden.”
“The doctor said it was a ‘big tumour’ and they might be able to do a lumpectomy but it would probably have to be a mastectomy. All in a couple of minutes it was like wow I’m going to lose a breast.”
When her husband arrived home, she told him determinedly: “I’m going to do whatever I have to do to get through this, if I have to lose a breast if I have to lose my hair, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to get through this.”
Julia has since undergone a masectomy and her cancer is now in remission.
What are dense breasts and how can you tell if you have them?
Dense breasts can only be identified through a mammogram – this is when it becomes apparent if you have dense breasts. Breasts consist of fatty tissue, composed of fat cells, and dense tissue, which includes milk glands, ducts and supportive tissue.
Those with dense breasts have more of the latter than the former.
According to The National Cancer Institute, nearly half of all women over 40 have dense breasts. A report released in 2024 by NHS England revealed: “For those with very dense breast tissue, an MRI is a more sensitive test as it can provide a very detailed image of your breast.”
NHS inform also reported that having dense breasts could increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer, as there are more cells that can become cancerous. The service further highlighted: “Dense breast tissue can also make a breast scan (mammogram) difficult to read, because it makes any lumps or areas of abnormal tissue harder to spot.”