Does a double mastectomy prevent cancer?
Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer by at least 95 percent in women who have a deleterious (disease-causing) mutation in the BRCA1 gene or the BRCA2 gene and by up to 90 percent in women who have a strong family history of breast cancer (2-5).
Why would someone get a preventative mastectomy?
Prophylactic mastectomy can reduce the chances of developing breast cancer in women at high risk of the disease: For women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, prophylactic mastectomy reduces the risk of developing breast cancer by 90 to 95 percent.
What happens in preventive double mastectomy?
Prophylactic mastectomy is surgery to remove one or both breasts to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, prophylactic mastectomy in women who carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation may be able to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by 95%.
Does double mastectomy prevent breast cancer recurrence?
FACT: Undergoing a bilateral mastectomy drastically reduces your chances of breast cancer recurrence since almost all of your breast tissue has been removed. There is a very small chance that residual breast tissue or cancer cells could recur on the chest wall.
How often does breast cancer come back after mastectomy?
Recurrence rates for people who have mastectomies vary: There is a 6% chance of cancer returning within five years if the healthcare providers didn’t find cancer in axillary lymph nodes during the original surgery. There is a one in four chance of cancer recurrence if axillary lymph nodes are cancerous.
Will my insurance cover a preventative mastectomy?
No federal laws require insurance companies to cover prophylactic mastectomy.
Can I opt for a double mastectomy?
Some women who’ve been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in one breast choose to have that breast and the other healthy breast removed — a double mastectomy. Removing the other healthy breast is called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.
Can you keep your nipples if you have a mastectomy?
When treating breast cancer with a mastectomy, the nipple is typically removed along with the rest of the breast. (Some women might be able to have a nipple-sparing mastectomy, where the nipple is left in place. This is discussed in more detail on our page about mastectomy.)
How often does breast cancer come back after a double mastectomy?
If a chest wall recurrence is localized, it is referred to as a non-metastatic breast cancer recurrence. Around 5 percent of women who have had a mastectomy will have a regional recurrence over the 10 years post-surgery.
How long can you live after a double mastectomy?
81.2% of women who had double mastectomy were alive 10 years after diagnosis. 79.9% of women who had single mastectomy were alive 10 years after diagnosis.
What is the healing time for a double mastectomy?
The recovery time from a double mastectomy can vary from person to person, but it typically takes 4 to 6 weeks. Some surgeries involve removing the breast tissue but saving the nipple, while others remove the whole breast.
Can you still get breast cancer after a double mastectomy?
Although the chances are extremely less, one cannot deny that there still may be a chance that the residual breast tissue or cancer cells could recur on the chest wall. It should also be remembered that having a double mastectomy does not reduce the risk of developing cancer somewhere else in the body.
Is a preventive mastectomy worth the risk?
Like any type of surgery, a mastectomy can have risks and side effects, some of which could affect your quality of life. Because of this, preventive surgery is not usually a good option for women who are at average risk of breast cancer, or for those who are at only slightly increased risk.
Is double mastectomy necessary, or even healthy?
Other doctors say a double mastectomy is only a good idea for women who have the genetic mutation, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which increases the risk of developing breast cancer by the age of 70.