Mastectomy May Not Be Necessary for Young Breast Cancer Patients

[Nakush]

Mastectomies among younger women with nonmetastatic invasive breast cancer may not always be necessary, according to a new study that shows survival outcomes are similar to those of women who had a lumpectomy. A lot of times, there's this assumption that removal of the entire breast is going to prevent cancer from returning in that breast. That makes complete sense, it's intuitive, so I think a lot of patients are surprised to find that less extensive surgery provides the same overall survival as a really extensive surgery

[Mishtu]

@nakush The increasing frequency of mastectomies in younger women may be traceable, in part, to high-profile cases of celebrities who have had mastectomies after an early breast cancer diagnosis, with Angelina Jolie being among the most known of examples. But Ms. Jolie had the procedure proactively without a cancer diagnosis because she carried the BRCA1 mutation, which increases breast cancer risk. That information was often lost in press coverage, which can lead to confusion among young women with breast cancer