What Figures in Choice for Prophylactic Mastectomy?
PHOENIX—Women diagnosed with unilateral breast cancer who choose prophylactic contralateral mastectomy tend to be younger, more highly educated, and more likely to have a family history of cancer than those who choose unilateral mastectomy. The finding comes from a review of a prospective breast cancer database maintained at Ohio State University. The data were presented by Doreen M. Agnese, MD, at the Society of Surgical Oncology 62nd Annual Cancer Symposium. The database consisted of 1840 women who were treated with mastectomy for unilateral breast cancer over a 10- year period (1998 to 2007); 201 of these women also chose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Women having stage 0 or I breast cancer were more likely to choose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (12% to 13%) than those with stage III disease (approximately 8%). The rate of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy increased over time, from 6.5% in 1998 to 16.1% by the end of the study, said Dr Agnese, assistant profess
