Removal of Cancer-Free Breast Does Not Improve Survival Rate, A Study Finds

A new study reveals that the removal of cancer-free breast will not increase the survival rate of women. This suggests that young women who are diagnosed with breast cancer normally overestimate the possibility of the cancer cells to spread over to the normal breast which make them decide to remove it even if unnecessary.

Women who were found with cancer in one of their breasts within the ages 26 to 40 who opted to remove both the cancer-stricken and the cancer-free breast were mostly influenced to decide for a double mastectomy because of the desire to survive from the grave disease.

Based on previous studies on early stages of breast cancer, the possibility of cancer developing in the other breast is between two to four percent in a span of five years. Genetic mutations are said to increase the risk.

Shoshana M. Rosenberg, lead author of the study from the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, clarified that double mastectomy does eliminate the chances of another breast cancer. However, it doesn't mean that it could decrease the risk of developing the disease in other parts of the body.

There was a notable increase of breast cancer cases wherein women opt to have the cancer-free breast removed to avoid the cancer cells to spread in which the pattern is more apparent in younger women. The researchers gave a 123-item survey to 123 women who went through double mastectomy, around two years average post surgery.

About 94 percent of the participants answered that the main factor for their decision is the desire to live longer. Those who did not have the genetic mutations BRCA1 or 2 said that around 10 percent of them with similar stages could develop another breast cancer within five years.

Rosenberg told Reuters Health that the participants of the survey had extremely overestimated the risks. She further warned women who undergo a double mastectomy and go through reconstruction of their breasts. She explains that these entail complex surgeries, extended recovery periods, and even the danger of complications.

The study was published in the Sept. 16 issue of the online journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

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