Group Supports Prophylactic Mastectomy Option For High-Risk Women.(Brief Article)

2001 SEP 6 - (NewsRx Network) -- For women with a breast cancer susceptibility gene (BRCA1 or BRCA2) mutation, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation supports prophylactic bilateral total mastectomy as an option for reducing the risk of breast cancer but cautions that this decision should not be made without carefully considering all available options and the risks and benefits associated with each.

While the surgery is not considered a failsafe form of protection against certain inherited forms of breast cancer, its efficacy rate is high, and it provides some reassurance for women carrying gene mutations that place them at higher risk for developing the disease. In fact, women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation have a cumulative lifetime risk of developing invasive breast cancer that is 10 to 20 times higher than those at average risk.

Responding to a study published in the July 19, 2001, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the foundation acknowledges that undergoing a prophylactic bilateral total mastectomy is a profoundly difficult decision for women at high risk of developing breast cancer. But, in an age where genetic testing can make reasonably accurate predictions for the future possibility of genetically inherited disease (like some breast cancers), prophylactic measures, such as the removal of both breasts, may provide greater confidence to carriers of harmful mutated genes.

"If you are a woman who knows she is at very high risk for breast cancer - someone who is part of a breast cancer family because she harbors one or the other of these genetic markers - you may view prophylactic mastectomy as a way to substantially reduce your risk, as well as the stress and worry of possibly developing breast cancer," said Susan Braun, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. "This is an extremely personal and difficult decision for a woman to make. Therefore, it is essential that she be armed with all available medical information and undergo genetic counseling in order to make the decision that is right for her."

The prospective study, which was conducted in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, consisted of 139 women, all of who carried mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. All of the women had undergone genetic counseling and were aware of their ...