Mastectomy often unnecessary for breast cancer patients

Breast cancer and mastectomies tend to go hand in hand, but according to a new Dutch study, it's often just as safe to leave the breast intact. The Dutch Cancer Institute and the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital conducted this ambitious study over 22 years, in various countries.

The researchers concluded that there were numerous cases where breasts were amputated, where it would have been just as safe to leave the breast intact especially in Europe. Why? According to the study team, both doctors and patients prefer this conservative approach to breast cancer, as they feel that leaving the breast in place would pose a danger.

The study's message is that not carrying out a mastectomy and often a double mastectomy is often just as medically safe. Both types of operations lead to the exact same survival chances in most women. This does not apply to women under 35 who have a genetically inherited form of breast cancer. For these women, mastectomy is the right choice. Those who are interested in reading the full text of the study will be able to find it published in the respected medical journal The Lancet.

Meanwhile, another group of researchers led by Carlo La Vecchia from the University of Milan said that the number of women who will die from breast cancer will be greatly reduced because of better treatment! It's expected that there will be nine percent less deaths from breast cancer in Europe, and 13 percent less in the 20-49 age group.

Having regular mammograms, especially after age 40, does increase a woman's survival chance if she has breast cancer. Women whose breast cancer is detected earlier, offering these women a higher chance of having treatment early, before the cancer spreads. Those women also have less chance of the cancer coming back. Breast cancer symptoms can take a while to appear, so mammograms are a very effective diagnostic tool.