After well-known actress and social activist Angelina Jolie recently announced in the US newspaper New York Times that she had undergone a preventive bilateral mastectomy, a heated debate began in the media. To cut out or not to cut out?
Women with a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. In addition to preventive examinations, which they should have on a regular basis, these women have another preventive method at their disposal, namely prophylactic bilateral mastectomy.
Unfortunately, there are no studies that can unequivocally confirm the percentage effectiveness of this procedure, although the fact that such an operation reduces the risk of cancer is indisputable.
So what is the problem?
A prophylactic bilateral mastectomy is a procedure that involves cutting out as much of the tissue that is at risk of cancer as possible.
Unfortunately, it is virtually never possible to remove all of the tissue that could become a target for cancer. Also relevant to the issue is the fact that it is not the breast itself that is the problem and the cause of the disease. The risk of developing the disease is linked to many other factors, both personal and environmental. One of these, for example, is the female reproductive tract.
In fact, studies have shown that women who have had a complete resection of their ovaries and fallopian tubes have a reduced risk of developing not only ovarian cancer (up to 80%), but also breast cancer (up to 50%).
photo: ojoimages
Women who are considering undergoing radical breast surgery should not miss the fact that it has been found that some women develop breast cancer despite having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy or oophorectomy.
