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New Study
Shows Rise in Patient Choice of Double Mastectomy

New Study
Shows Rise in Patient Choice of Double Mastectomy

A new study shows that more women diagnosed with breast cancer are choosing to have their healthy breast surgically removed along with their affected breast.

A new study shows that more women diagnosed with breast cancer are choosing to have their healthy breast surgically removed along with their affected breast, called a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. About 5% of patients decided to have the radical procedure in 2003, which more than doubles the 2% in 1998.

According to a report in The New York Times, the study's lead author, Todd Tuttle, chief of surgical oncology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, started the study because so many patients were requesting the procedure. Tuttle said he was surprised by the increase in contralateral prophylactic mastectomies, an upward trend that shows no sign of leveling off and is occurring even as the practice of breast-conserving surgery expands.

The study was published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology online and analyzed data from a small part of the 200,000 women who receive breast cancer diagnoses in the United States each year. If the numbers are correct, that means that 8,000 to 10,000 patients a year may be opting for the more radical procedure.

According to the study, the rates were higher in young patients, non-Hispanic whites, and patients with lobular histology and a previous cancer diagnosis.

The Journal's conclusion calls for further studies in order to understand the decision-making processes involved in the more aggressive breast cancer surgery. Tuttle speculates that the higher number might be due to genetic testing after a diagnosis of breast cancer (white women carrying a genetic mutation are at a higher risk of developing cancer in the healthy breast), as well as improvements in both mastectomy and breast-reconstruction techniques.

Doctors and patients' advocates are urging women considering the procedure to undergo counseling and take time to weigh all the options before deciding on the surgery. (The Advocate)

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Matthew Van Atta