Majority Of Women Satisfied With Decision To Have Preventive Mastectomy

New research has found that women who have cancer in one breast and decide to have mastectomy on the unaffected one as well lead a good quality of life despite popular perception to the contrary. “A large majority of women were satisfied with their decisions to have the preventive mastectomy in addition to their primary breast cancer treatment,” said Ann Geiger, Ph.D., lead author, from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “And women who had the preventive mastectomy were equally content with their quality of life as women who didn’t.”

The survey was designed to ask women about quality of life, body image, sexual satisfaction, breast cancer concern, depression and health perception after having a preventive mastectomy. The findings are reported in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study evaluated 519 women with cancer in one breast, who decided to have the unaffected one removed surgically. 86.5 percent reported that they were satisfied with their decision, while 75 percent reported a good quality of life. Women who have cancer in one breast have three to five times risk of developing it in the other one as well. It has been shown that surgical removal of the unaffected breast decreases the risk of developing cancer in it. “Our research suggests that preventive mastectomy prevents future breast cancer and that women’s psychosocial outcomes are driven more strongly by issues related to aging and surviving breast cancer than by their preventive mastectomy,” said Geiger. “Nevertheless, it is important to remember that preventive mastectomy is a major surgical procedure likely appropriate for a very small percentage of women with breast cancer. We encourage women with breast cancer to carefully consider their treatment options in consultation with their physicians, family and friends.” Contact: Karen Richardson [email protected] 336-716-4453 Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Source: Eurekalert