BILATERAL MASTECTOMIES DO NOT EXTEND LIFE

12/15/2014

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“We provide truthful information without emotion or influence from the medical establishment, pharmaceutical industry, national organizations, special interest groups or government agencies.”  Charles B Simone, M.MS., M.D.

Lawrenceville, NJ (Dr. Simone) – When faced with a new breast cancer diagnosis, some patients think they will live longer if they have both breasts removed. The patient presumes that she will be cured and live longer by removing the breast with cancer and the one with no evidence of cancer. This trend of bilateral mastectomies rose from 2% in 1998 to 12.3% in 2013.

But in a recent study involving close to 200,000 patients in California, patients who chose to have bilateral mastectomies did not live longer than those who had a single mastectomy or had treatment with lumpectomy and radiation therapy (JAMA, 2014, 312[9]: 902-14).

(c) 2017 Charles B Simone, MD