More Women Choosing to Remove Healthy Breast after Cancer Diagnosis
Monday, September 28, 2009 - 14:42
in Health & Medicine
(PhysOrg.com) -- An increasing number of women diagnosed with cancer in one breast are opting to have their healthy breast surgically removed, according to a recent study of New York State data. The study also finds that, despite extensive press coverage of women who choose to have both breasts removed because of a strong family history of cancer, the rate of this surgery is relatively low and has changed little in the last decade. Led by Stephen B. Edge, MD, FACS, Chair of the Department of Surgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the study appears in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.