Study finds rise in dual mastectomies to treat breast cancer

More American women diagnosed with cancer in one breast are choosing to undergo double mastectomies, meaning they opt to have their healthy breast surgically removed along with their affected breast, researchers of a new study reported Monday.

Mastectomy is the surgical removal of the entire breast for the treatment or prevention of breast cancer. It usually is the recommended surgery for more advanced breast cancers. For newly diagnosed breast cancer, Lumpectomy, a type of surgery for breast cancer, is recommended. Lumpectomy is considered "breast-conserving" surgery because in this type of surgery only the malignant tumor and a surrounding margin of normal breast tissue are removed.

The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology online, unveiled yesterday that the number of women having both breasts removed, even though a tumor is found in one breast, increased by 150% over a five-year period.

However, it did not show any evidences that double mastectomies increase survival in most women. The women, especially young white women, are pushing to get both breasts removed simultaneously, the researchers said.

To reach their conclusion, Dr. Todd M. Tuttle of the University of Minnesota Medical School and his colleagues analyzed data from the federal government's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results cancer registry, including information from 16 regions. The identified 152,755 patients whose cancer was diagnosed in one breast from 1998 to 2003, the latest period for which data are available.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that over the five-year period, 57.8% of women who received surgery later opted for lumpectomy (breast-conserving surgery), while 38.9% had a unilateral (one-sided) mastectomy (the surgical removal of the breast).

The rate of double mastectomies (the simultaneous removal of cancerous and healthy breasts) in all patients who received breast cancer diagnoses rose to 4.5% in 2003 from 1.8 percent in 1998.

"Are these realistic decisions or not?" asks Dr. Tuttle. "I'm afraid that women believe having their opposite breast removed is somehow going to improve their breast cancer survival. In fact, it probably will not affect their survival," he said.

"It's a very vulnerable time for these patients. In a very short period of time they have to decide how to treat their breast cancer. Under the stress of the situation they will have both breasts removed because it seems logical at the time," he added

In order to determine the answer to a question that why women are opting double mastectomies Dr. Tuttle intends to perform another study.

Breast cancer is the most common tumor in women. It is a malignant form of tumor spreading quickly to the bones, hips, lungs and in some, the brain. One in ten women is likely to develop breast cancer and almost 75% would do so after menopause.

Besides hereditary or genetic factors, some other causes of this form of tumor are early puberty, late menopause, not having a child or having a first child after age 30. Risk is considerably lowered if one has short menstrual life, large family or first child before the age of 18.

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 178,480 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and about 40,460 will die of it.