Study: Preemptive Mastectomy Appears to Prevent Breast Cancer in High Risk Women

A woman with genetic mutations that put her at high risk of developing breast cancer may be protected from the disease by having her breasts removed, according to researchers at the Rotterdam Family Cancer Clinic of Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

Researchers studied 139 women, beginning in 1992, who all carried the genetic mutations believed responsible for causing susceptibility to breast cancer. The mutations, known as BRCA 1 or BRCA 2, carry a lifetime breast cancer risk of up to 85 percent.

None of the women had breast cancer at the time of enrollment in the study. More than half of the women in the study chose to have preventive mastectomies, known as bilateral prophylactic total mastectomy. The other 63 women chose to have checkups every 6 months, annual mammograms or MRI screenings and monthly breast self-exams.

Researchers found that none of the women who chose to undergo preventive mastectomies developed breast cancer. Eight of the checkup group developed breast cancer and one died, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Four of the women found the cancer themselves between screenings.

Other sources: New England Journal of Medicine, AP