Double Mastectomy the Latest Treatment Trend for Men with Breast Cancer

Double mastectomy is becoming a more popular option for men diagnosed with breast cancer, a new study reported.

Even though breast cancer is often associated to women due to the frequency of the disease in females and the female-oriented campaigns, roughly one percent of all cases occur in men within the United States. In this study, researchers from the American Cancer Society and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute set out to examine how frequent men underwent the procedure known as contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), which involves removing both breasts even though one is still healthy.

"[The operation] is only recommended for a small proportion of men," said lead researcher, Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, vice president of surveillance and health services research at the American Cancer Society.

The team analyzed the data on 6,332 men taken from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries and found that from 2004 to 2011, the number of male patients who underwent CPM nearly doubled from three percent to 5.6 percent. The researchers noted that in female patients, the rate of CPM also increased a lot from 4.5 percent to 11 percent from 2003 to 2011.

The researchers did not study why the rate is increasing. However, they theorized that since these breast cancer patients have a better understanding of their risk due to improved genetic testing, they are more willing to take preventive measures. Preventive measures, especially ones that include surgery, are not always the best option. The researchers stress to all patients that they should discuss the pros and cons of undergoing CPM in depth with their doctors.

In another study published last month in JAMA Oncology, the researchers concluded that opting for aggressive treatments during the early stages of breast cancer did not affect death risk in women roughly one decade later. The data included more than 100,000 women.

"We have created a culture of breast cancer awareness, and we've created a countercultural response of fear. When you do a mastectomy, you reduce the fear greatly," the lead researcher, Steven Narod, a senior scientist at the Women's College Research Institute in Toronto, told The Washington Post at the time.

The study was published in JAMA Surgery.