Is a 0.2% chance of death from breast cancer worth a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy?

Article

That's the choice women with one or more breast cancer risk factors have to make, according to the results of a recent retrospective case-cohort study of women aged 18 to 80.

That's the choice women with one or more breast cancer risk factors have to make, according to the results of a recent retrospective case-cohort study of women aged 18 to 80.

Researchers studied 276 women who received bilateral prophylactic mastectomy and a random sample of 196 women representing an underlying cohort of 666,800 women with elevated breast cancer risk but no mastectomy. Breast cancer risk factors consisted of a family history of the disease, a history of atypical hyperplasia, and one or more breast biopsies with benign findings.

Breast cancer developed in one woman (0.4%) after bilateral breast removal and in 26,800 women (4.0%) who did not opt for the prophylactic procedure, making the hazard ratio for breast cancer occurrence after bilateral mastectomy 0.005 (95% CI, 0.001–0.044). None of the women who elected to have the procedure died of breast cancer, while 0.2% of those who did not have a mastectomy died of the disease.

Newsletter

Get the latest clinical updates, case studies, and expert commentary in obstetric and gynecologic care. Sign up now to stay informed.

Recent Videos
Zachary Wagner, PhD, discusses the harms of bias in reproductive care | Image Credit: ornsife.usc.edu.
Ciera Kirkpatrick, PhD, shows how TikTok is transforming cervical cancer awareness | Image Credit: linkedin.com.
Maria Gallo, PhD, discusses high attendance at crisis pregnancy centers | Image Credit: © x.com.
Eran Bornstein, MD, highlights early signs of preeclampsia clinicians need to know | Image Credit: northwell.edu.
Eran Bornstein, MD explains the need for first trimester preeclampsia screening | Image Credit: northwell.edu.
Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD, highlights familial links of postpartum psychosis | Image Credit: profiles.mountsinai.org.
Related Content
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.