WASHINGTON — More women who have cancer in only one breast are getting both breasts removed, says research that found the trend more than doubled in just six years.
It’s still a rare option: Most breast cancer in this country is treated by lumpectomy, removing just the tumor while saving the breast.
But the new study suggests 4.5 percent of breast cancer surgery in 2003 involved women getting cancerous and healthy breasts simultaneously removed, a 150 percent increase from 1998. Some women at high risk, because of breast cancer genes or family history, choose preventive mastectomies before cancer ever strikes.
Young women with cancer in one breast are most likely to choose the aggressive operation, researchers report Monday in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The concern is whether they’re choosing in the heat of the moment — breast cancer surgery often is within two weeks of diagnosis — or with good understanding of its pros and cons.
“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,” said Dr. Todd Tuttle, cancer surgery chief at the University of Minnesota, who led the study after more women sought the option in his own hospital.
The initial tumor already may have sent out seeds to spread to key organs, Tuttle explained.
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