is hysterectomy the radical mastectomy of gynecology?
Munro MG Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Los Angeles Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90027, USA. m.g.munro@kp.org Both hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding and radical mastectomy for breast cancer are steeped in the history of surgery and have recently been challenged as being too radical for the disorder at hand. Radical mastectomy has largely been replaced with local removal of the tumor with subsequent radiation and/or chemotherapy. Alternatives to hysterectomy include a number of medical interventions, most notably intrauterine progestin-releasing systems, and endometrial ablation, a procedure that has a relatively high success rate and one that is now feasible for many women in an office or procedure room setting. However, although radical mastectomy rates have dropped precipitously, hysterectomy rates, at least in the United States remain relatively stable. Determining the proportion of hysterecto
