JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
A new study, being released on Friday, will suggest that most women who have a double mastectomy to keep their breast cancer from coming back, actually don't need it.
The study was conducted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
It's small, but clearly shows that most women who are diagnosed with cancer in one breast have a very low risk of cancer recurring in their healthy breast.
It's not a decision E-News host Giuliana Rancic made lightly. "At the end all it came down to was just choosing to live and not looking over my shoulder," she said.
But after consulting with her doctors and family she decided it was right for her, announcing her decision here on the Today Show. "I'm going to go ahead and move forward with a double mastectomy."
Thousands of women with breast cancer face the same question every year - what form of therapy should they choose.
For a growing number of women the answer has been to have both breasts removed. "For me it was just very important to get the cancer out," Rancic said.
But a new study by the University of Michigan finds that for the overwhelming majority of women who have had both breasts removed, the risk of cancer developing in the healthy breast is very low.
"For most women, over the 20 years after a breast cancer diagnosis, the risk of getting a new second cancer is in the range of about five or six percent, very very small," said New York surgeon, Dr. Monica Morrow.
Actress Christina Applegate says she had preventive surgery to keep her cancer from returning. Sharon Osbourne opted for the procedure after learning she carried a high risk gene.
That may have been the right choice for them medically, but for most cancer patients, choosing to remove their healthy breast as a preventive measure, may be unnecessary. Dr. Halle Moore "Many women are doing the elective procedure without a good understanding of what the actual risk is for the other side," said Cleveland Clinic oncologist Dr. Halle Moore.
The study suggests that fear of recurrence is one of the biggest factors driving the decision to have preventive surgery - 90 percent reported being "very worried" cancer would develop in their other breast.
But doctors say the science suggests, for most women, the fear is unfounded. "The idea that by doing bigger surgery, you're being safer and helping ensure a better outcome just isn't true," Dr. Morrow said.
The exception to this might be women who have a history of two or more immediate family members with breast or ovarian cancer - or women with a positive genetic test for mutations in the BRCA 1 or 2 genes.
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Study Article
Copyright 2011 WLBT. All rights reserved.
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
