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By Kay Quinn, KSDK-TV, April 16, 2008
Breast cancer surgery has come a long way in the past decade. Preserving as much breast tissue as possible has become the goal of many surgeons.
But doctors have noticed a startling trend among women who still need mastectomies after a cancer diagnosis.
Many women diagnosed with breast cancer can have a lumpectomy, surgery that removes the cancer, but spares healthy tissue. But among women who still need a mastectomy, growing numbers are choosing to have their healthy breast removed at the same time.
At 65, Nancy Boyd is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed last fall after noticing breast changes, but her doctor couldn''t find anything wrong even after two tests.
"She said all I can find are some enlarged ducts, I can''t find anything else that concerns me, so both reports really came back as negative," she said.
Boyd and her doctors kept looking, and finally the third test showed cancer was present. The difficult diagnosis worried Boyd, but she felt very confident in her treatment choice.
"The choice that I had was, do I do just the involved breast or do I do both," Boyd said.
Boyd chose to have a double mastectomy and remove her healthy breast as well.
"I felt like God doesn''t guarantee me a week much less another hour," she said, "and I thought he''s given an educated guess here, so I''m going to go ahead and do both and that way I don''t have to wonder. I won''t die of breast cancer now because there''s nothing left there."
"The most recent reports that have been reported across national data bases is that these numbers have doubled and even tripled over the past ten years," said Julie Margenthaler, a breast surgeon at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
It''s somewhat of a controversial treatment choice, but Dr. Margenthaler said more women who only need mastectomies on one side were choosing to have their healthy breast removed at the same time.
"I think that women just know more today than they have ever known own about breast cancer and they''re seeing out what might be perceived as more radical approaches because of that fear and knowledge," said Margenthaler.
So-called prophylactic or preventive mastectomy is actually recommended in certain groups of women. Those with a genetic mutation for breast cancer, women with two or more close family members who had breast cancer before 50. Women with precancerous or abnormal breast cells.
Dr. Margenthaler said women like Boyd who need multiple tests to diagnose their initial cancer may also fall under the recommendation. But she added most women with breast cancer on only one side do not need both breasts removed.
"We know for anyone who gets breast cancer in her 50s or 60s she has about a one percent per year risk of getting breast cancer on the other side," Margenthaler said.
Boyd said her diagnosis triggered memories of her paternal grandmother, Hattie Odle, who died of breast cancer in 1918. Odle was in her 40''s and did not live to see her grandchildren.
"I feel like I do have a future," said Boyd, "and I don''t have to worry about what''s going to be found, at least in that area. Something else could crop up. That is a relief to me that I don''t have to worry about that."
It''s peace of mind that gives this grandmother some confidence about her own future.
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