New studies on surgical options in inherited breast cancer show drastic treatment is not always best
Friday, March 26, 2010 - 07:56
in Health & Medicine
Two studies to be presented at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7) in Barcelona today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday), shed light on the treatment options facing women carrying the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations which predispose them to breast cancer. In the first, Ms Annette Heemskerk-Gerritsen, a PhD student in the Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, will tell the conference this afternoon (Friday) that prophylactic mastectomy (where women who have been treated for breast cancer in one breast have the remaining breast tissue removed as a risk-reducing measure) does not improve disease-free or overall survival in this group of patients.