U-M study: Preventive breast cancer surgery might be unnecessary

[Bozita]

U-M study: Preventive breast cancer surgery might be unnecessary
November 28, 2012
By Robin Erb
Detroit Free Press Medical Writer


Seven out of 10 women with breast cancer who chose to undergo a preventive double mastectomy most likely never would have faced breast cancer again, anyway, according to early research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Not only is the surgery invasive, it can lead to years of painful complications -- often with no medical reason for the procedure in the first place, said Dr. Sarah Hawley, an associate professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School. She will present her findings Friday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Quality Care Symposium in San Diego.

Though the findings are preliminary and involved a small group -- just 107 women -- they build on a growing body of evidence that some cancers are overdiagnosed and overtreated.

In an article published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers estimated that breast cancer has been overdiagnosed in 1.3 million U.S. women in the past 30 years. That means screening detected tumors that were harmless, but led to those women undergoing treatment, anyway.

more ...
http://www.freep.com/article/20121128/FEATURES08/311280016/U-M-study-Preventive-breast-cancer-surgery-might-be-unnecessary?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. Reminds me of all those damned unnecessary hysterectomies. Funny there's no prevalence of

unnecessary castrations in medicine.

And if men got pregnant you could get a safe, cheap abortion in golf course locker rooms.

[Irishonly]

2. I wanted a double mastectomy

My doctors talked me out of it. One of their concerns was that if breast cancer came back it would attach to my chest wall and cause more problems. I listened to them and I guess it was moot because my treatment was 13 years ago.

[SheilaT]

3. Thanks for posting this.

I've often wondered just how necessary those "preventative" mastectomies were, but since I myself have never faced that decision, it would be presumptuous in the extreme to even offer an opinion on them.