More women with breast cancer opt to remove healthy breast.

[ccharles000]

A rising number of women are choosing to remove a healthy breast after being diagnosed with breast cancer -- even though there is little evidence that doing so improves survival, a new study found.

The research, which appears in Cancer, the journal of the American Cancer Society, examined data from 6,275 New York state women, who had prophylactic mastectomies -- removal of a non-cancerous breast as a preventive measure.

Researchers looked at women who had a healthy breast removed after the discovery of cancer in the other breast as well as woman without cancer who had both breasts removed, but had a strong family history of the disease or a gene making them more susceptible to it.

From 1995 to 2005, the number of women who had cancer in one breast and choose to have the other breast removed more than doubled. Those with no personal history of breast cancer who had both breasts removed also increased, but slightly.

While the number of these kinds of mastectomies remains small, they're rising and such surgery comes with risks. Other studies reveal increases in overal mastectomies, raising concerns that some women are being treated too aggressively and whether doctors are doing the right thing for patients.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/health/2009/09/mastectomy_breast_cancer.html

[Taverner]

1. Makes sense to me

Why go through it again?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. My wife did it too, but it did not help

Her decision and I agreed.

[Taverner]

7. I'm sorry

:hug:

[Mari333]

11. hugs

:hug:

from someone who understands.

[JeanGrey]

16. I am so sorry! (hugs)

[ProgressiveProfessor]

26. Thanks for the hugs. It runs in her family, she was really diligent about checks and mammograms

I was always in denial. She was younger than me, and I always assumed I would die first, particularly given what I have done to myself over the years. She passed well at home with her family. We also had two daughters, so they are extra vigilant as well.

Its an easy thing to talk about the cycle of life until its your immediate family. A friend of mine commented that about half the time I speak as if she was alive, though its been several years.

[Walk away]

2. Several years ago I worked with a woman who had lost her mother and..

sister to breast cancer. Her father and her husband were both surgeons and when her time came and she was diagnosed (very early) she had a double mastectomy with a tummy tuck and full reconstruction right away. She felt safe, she looked great and she living a long healthy life with her husband and children.

[imdjh]

4. I don't get it. Why does cancer like breasts? Are we talking the glands or the fat?

As for the surgery, you bet I would have them removed.

[janx]

17. Why did she have plastic surgery of the abdomen at the same

time as life-saving surgery (mastectomy)?

[dflprincess]

24. I think sometimes fat from the abdomen is used in the

reconstruction of the breasts. Assuming that's the case here, might as well have the tummy tuck done right if they were already working on that part of your body.

[Uben]

3. My wife had it done

When she was diagnosed in 2003 with breast cancer, she opted to have both removed rather than have to go through it again. She had immediate reconstruction, and has been cancer free for over six years. HAsn't even been to doctor in three years!

[emilyg]

8. I had one breast removed. Very much

regret not having the oher one removed, too.

[Uben]

19. Her mammograms always prompted follow-ups

She had fibro-cystic disease which produced firbous cysts in her breasts that the radiologist thought might be masking something more sinister. Every time she went back, it was always the same, so she basically stopped getting the mammograms. When the tumor showed up and she was diagnosed with cancer, she decided she did not want to have to worry about, much less go through with all this again, so she opted to have both breasts removed. Although she had immediate reconstruction, a year later (on Christmas day)she contracted scarlet fever, which is a condition of an untreated strep infection. The infection attached to the implants and both had to be removed immediately! She waited a year and found a young, very brilliant surgeon who did the second reconstruction surgery. (The first surgeon did a really lousy job) The second surgery was so good, the surgeon uses her photos for advertisement!
The first guy basically stuck a couple of implants in and sewed her up. The second did a latissimus flap where they take muscle tissue from your back, push it through your rib cage, and use it to contain the implants. It looks much more natural and she actually has natural tissue there, too.

She declined taking chemo and radiation, although it was recommended. She even stopped taking the maintenance drugs after a few weeks because they had such horrible side effects, and if she does have a reoccurrence, they would just give her the same medications anyway. She wound up sending her six month supply of drugs to a young mom she met on BCANS (a forum for women who have or have had breast cancer) who could not afford to buy the drugs she was prescribed. I don't know if it was legal or not, but it seemed like the right thing to do!

SIX YEARS CANCER FREE and counting! Through a strange twist of fate, we inherited a large sum of money shortly afterward, enough to last us the rest of our lives, so we both retired and we have spent every day together and intend to do so as long as we have time together left!

[emilyg]

25. Tell her hi from a "sister." I turned

chemo down. Did radiation and Tamoxofen. Enjoy each other - God Bless.

[Contrary1]

5. Count me as one of those women...

But, the pathology report indicated there may have been more trouble ahead. No regrets.
However, I had to give up my job at Hooters. **Sigh**

[DavidDvorkin]

9. My wife wishes she had had that done

to reduce the constant worry about the healthy, surviving breast.

[Mari333]

10. I would do that in a heartbeat

my friend did it and she doesnt regret it.

[Berry Cool]

12. Gosh, the "Save the Ta-Tas" crew will be disappointed to hear this.

I wonder if they will try to persuade these women, if they will not keep the breast, to at least have it preserved under glass or something so they can still admire it. After all, it's not the woman they care about saving, it's her breasts.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. Serious or sarcastic?

I really can't tell, but perhaps you're taking the slogan a little too literally?

[Ms. Toad]

13. As one whose spouse is eligible for prophylactic double mastectomy

(lobular carcinoma in situ) we considered it and rejected it - she participated in the tamoxifen trial, as an alternative. I also have a strong family of breast cancer (mother and grandmother with breast cancer) and would make the same decision.

There is some decreased risk that invasive breast cancer will develop. The problem is that you cannot remove all the breast tissue - and any remaining breast tissue will be susceptible to cancer. Feeling safe (because the breasts are gone) may lead to complacency about monthly BSE, missing something that is there because of a sense that there is a margin of safety, etc.

Reconstructive surgery makes it even more challenging because the implant would be on top of whatever remaining breast tissue there is, making detection more challenging.

[question everything]

14. If they carry one of the BRCA genes then they should

If they already have breast cancer and have the gene(s) their chances of recurring are large. And why go through life wondering when the second shoe will fall?

[JeanGrey]

15. I'd do it. In a heartbeat. Especially if I had a strong

family genetic tie to it.

[ismnotwasm]

18. I see this fairly often

On my floor we care for post DIEP breast reconstructions, as well as a couple of other types. This uses the woman's own flesh to create a new breast, or breasts. Generally beautiful results.

One of the things I've found--since we're not an oncology floor-- is that it's easy to care for the patient after surgery, not remembering this is a patient after cancer. Cancer still matters to these women, it's an enormous fear as well as a life altering event. From the initial diagnois, sometimes by finding a lump on a self examination, to the type of treatment; the radiation, the chemo with all that entails, to the impaired body image, the decision whether or not to reconstruct, the type of reconstruction--all requires much thought and a lot of decisions.

The ones who get both breasts removed are usually the ones at higher risk for the return of cancer but even if that's not the case, I understand why a woman would make this choice.

[Raschel]

27. I'm considering the DIEP reconstruction. I heard it's a hard recovery.

It's encouraging to hear that you've seen what you describe as beautiful results.

[hokies]

20. I saw a news story where a woman without breast cancer had her breasts removed

because she had a family history with breast cancer. I think she was in her mid-30s and already had children.

[LynneSin]

21. Christina Applegate had both removed even though she only had one affected

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Applegate#Breast_cancer

On August 19, 2008. It was announced that Applegate is cancer free after a double mastectomy, even though cancer was found in only one breast.<16> She has an inherited genetic fault, a BRCA1<17> mutation, which often triggers breast cancer. Her mother, Nancy Priddy, is a breast cancer survivor. Applegate said when she first was diagnosed "I was just shaking and — and then also immediately, I had to go into ... 'take-care-of-business-mode'" which included a change to a more healthy diet.

__________________________

Actually it's also happening more often that women with 2 healthy breasts will have them removed if their family has a strong history of breast cancer. I would suspect that especially after someone was done permanently with nursing and they knew their family's track record - this probably makes alot of sense.

[supernova]

23. My sister had a double mastectomy

back in 1998. It was a little over a year after my mom died in 1996 that my sister, then aged 49, also found a lump in her breast.

She elected to have both removed and has never looked back.

At the end of October she's participating in the Susan G Komen 3-Day Walk in Atlanta. :-)