Study reveals 70 percent women do not require double mastectomy

A new research has revealed that around 70 percent of women face a very low risk of facing cancer in the healthy breast but despite that they remove both their breasts following a breast cancer diagnosis.

The findings suggest that most women choose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, an aggressive surgery because they are afraid of the recurring of the cancer, which raises the question of potential overtreatment of the patients.

Sarah Hawley, Ph.D. said that the procedure does not make sense for women who do not have a strong family history or a genetic finding, so it is probably not appropriate to get the unaffected breast removed.

The study also found that women with higher education levels and who had undergone an MRI test before surgery were more likely to choose double mastectomy.

The researchers propose that it is not only important to educate women better about the procedure but doctors should also be aware that the patients' decision-making depends a lot on the fret for recurrence of cancer.

The study results appeared in JAMA Surgery.