American women still having too many mastectomies.

2003 FEB 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Although there are 25 years of solid scientific evidence showing that breast-conserving therapy has the same survival rate as mastectomy, American women are more likely to have mastectomy than are women in the United Kingdom.

So said Gershon Locker, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December 2002. This month's Breastlink.org reviews both the 20- and 25-year follow-up reports from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast & Bowel Project's (NSABP) randomized trials comparing mastectomy with less extensive breast surgery.

"Despite the scientific evidence, the perception among women that mastectomy offers the best chance of disease-free survival is quite pervasive," said breast surgeon, Beth Ann Lesnikoski, MD, Harvard Medical School, who provides the expert commentary. She points out that many women wrongly think mastectomy will provide a sure cure or that it will reduce their chance of needing chemotherapy or hormone therapy. "If a physician recommends mastectomy, it's important for a woman to ask why." Education is key to making an informed choice.

Patient education

Most women with breast cancer choose breast-conserving therapy if presented with all their options, say researchers at Northwestern University Medical ...