New mammogram guidelines proposed by the FDA are aimed at helping to detect breast cancer early.

The guidelines would require doctors to provide patients with information about breast density after their most recent mammogram. In New York, it is already a requirement.

Dr. Francis Arena, an oncologist with NYU Langone, says dense breasts do not indicate the patient has a higher risk of breast cancer. Instead it means mammographies may not be able to detect cancer.

"What's important is that hidden in that density can be things such as breast cancer, which we can't see because the breasts are so dense," says Arena.

Arena hopes that the new guidelines will lead to advanced tests that are currently not always covered by insurance.

"I hope we are going to be opening up doors that now other tests can possibly be done like a sonogram," Arena says.

He says he would also like to see MRIs used to detect breast cancer and says breast self-exams are a woman's first line of defense.