Why Cancer-Free Women Are Getting Preventative Mastectomies

Here’s a statistic: Preventive bilateral mastectomy reduces breast cancer incidence by 90% in women who have a strong family history of breast cancer (National Cancer Institute).   This might be why a growing number of women are opting for preventative breast removals.  Like Angelina Jolie, they don’t want to be breast cancer survivors but want to avoid getting breast cancer all together.  For some women, the comfort of knowing they have reduced their risk of breast cancer diagnosis is worth going through surgery.  Increasing the chance of staying cancer free is the driving force behind choosing mastectomy.

Let’s look at one real life example:

A healthy mom from New Jersey started to consider breast removal surgery once she turned 40. Doctor’s hadn't diagnosed her with breast cancer, she hadn’t been tested for BRCA gene mutation (a risk factor for breast cancer), and she was otherwise healthy.  Her main concern was her strong family history of breast cancer in her family.   Her dense breasts and difficulty getting clear readings on her mammography also increased her risk and gave her reason for concern.  To free herself from the worry of a possible breast cancer diagnosis, she decided to go through with preventative surgery.  She knew that having surgery would relieve some of the anxiety she felt towards getting breast cancer.

According to the data, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.  It affects more than 280,000 women per year, that’s about one new case every 2 minutes.  The inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are responsible for up to 25% of inherited breast cancers and about 10% percent of ALL breast cancers. Testing for these genes is important because they are the most common for breast cancer and have proven to put you at the highest lifetime risk.  But women need to also remember that these genes are only 2 out of the 20 other genes linked to breast cancer.  So even if you test negative for the BRCA genes, you are still at risk for other genetic mutations that could be responsible for breast cancer. 

Women with strong family history need to be proactive regardless of it they test positive for the BRCA gene mutations.  Breast cancer surveillance through mammograms, self-examination, and newer scan technologies should be taken seriously and done routinely.  For those women who prefer not commit to active surveillance, preventative mastectomy might be the answer.  But that decision is of course very personal.   Staying informed, and knowing your risks are key to making the best decision.