News item | 13-11-2025 | 12:00
State Secretary Judith Tielen (Youth, Prevention and Sport) wants to improve the population screening for women with very dense breast tissue as quickly as possible. The current breast cancer screening program works less well for them. From 2030, women with very dense breast tissue will be invited by the population survey for MRI examination immediately after their mammogram. This allows breast cancer to be detected better and faster in very dense tissue.
High quality for all women
This improvement needs careful preparation and implementation. Important points of attention are monitoring the high quality of population screening for the health of all women in the Netherlands. It is also necessary to prevent crowding out because different groups have to use the MRI capacity. The first MRI screening within the breast cancer population screening is expected to take place in 2030.
Heart and head
State Secretary Tielen: “This step is a real breakthrough in a discussion that has been going on for a long time. With my heart I would have liked to have introduced this step yesterday. But with my head I had to weigh difficult choices. This means that it will still take several years before the necessary steps and proper preparation are completed. Based on the research and in consultation with those involved – such as patients, doctors and researchers – this is the best and least delaying step forward. We are doing everything we can to benefit all women in the Netherlands who participate in breast cancer screening as soon as possible have had an impact on this improvement.”
Maximum possible speed
Now that the decision has been made, RIVM will draw up an implementation plan for the introduction of this MRI offering as quickly as possible. The State Secretary remains explicitly involved in the entire implementation process to ensure that all acceleration options are used and steps are carried out in parallel where possible.
An example of maximizing the pace is that the State Secretary has decided to organize the MRI offering based on existing advice from the Health Council from 2020. This means that it is not necessary to request advice again and time savings of up to one year are achieved. In 2031, when MRI screening has been introduced and research into other techniques for women with very dense breast tissue (DENSE-2 study) has been completed, the Health Council will be asked for new advice.