TV host Samantha Harris is the latest in a series of celebrities going public with her decision to have a double mastectomy following a breast cancer diagnosis.
As the number of women choosing this treatment continues to rise, reporter and author Marc Silver wanted to present the other side of the discussion. His wife, Marsha, opted instead to have lumpectomies when she was diagnosed with a tumor in each breast. Thirteen years later, she’s healthy.
“I have also learned that a double mastectomy is not the best choice for all breast cancer patients. Nor does it eliminate fear of recurrence,” Silver wrote in a post on NPR’s Shots blog. “As Marsha and I learned, the important thing is to talk to surgeons who devote a great portion of their practice to breast cancer – and then to make a decision that seems right to both the doctor and patient.”
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Mastectomy is the removal of the entire breast. The other option for women diagnosed with breast cancer is usually a lumpectomy, which removes the tumor and some surrounding tissue, followed by chemotherapy.
Silver wrote:
“The prospect of giving up her ‘girls’ plunged her into a state of sorrow. She didn’t want to say goodbye to part of herself. She was also aware that the mastectomy surgery was more invasive and recovery would take longer.”
Some women, like Angelina Jolie and Sharon Osbourne, who have also talked publicly about their decisions to have mastectomies, carry the BRCA gene mutation that increases their risk of developing cancer.
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But the majority of women who choose preventive mastectomy don’t carry the gene, researchers say. And some doctors worry that women are choosing to have both breasts removed to prevent breast cancer from coming back or developing in the other breast thinking it will increase their odds of survival.
Silver interviewed Dr. Todd Tuttle, chief of surgical oncology at University of Minnesota, who said that lumpectomy plus radiation generally leads to the same survival rates as mastectomy for women who don’t have hereditary breast cancer.
Tuttle was the lead author of a 2011 study that found that women with breast cancer “substantially overestimated” their risk of developing cancer in the other breast. In a survey of 75 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer, his team found that they perceived their risk of developing cancer in the other breast was around 30 percent, when it actually is 4 percent to 5 percent.
A 2013 study found similar results in 123 women who opted for double mastectomy, and noted that most women said the desire to extend their length of life was an extremely important factor in their decision.
While celebrities like Jolie and Harris are bringing genetic testing, preventive surgery and personalized medicine into mainstream conversation, Silver’s wife’s story is a reminder that medicine is personal, and everyone’s decision is different.
Read Silver’s post here.
[Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
