Cancer (15)
- Prophylactic mastectomy: Breast cancer prevention for high-risk women
- Breast cancer
- Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
- see all in Cancer
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
continued:
Prophylactic mastectomy: Breast cancer prevention for high-risk women
Deciding against surgery
If you're at high risk of breast cancer and you decide against prophylactic mastectomy, you do have other options:
- Surveillance. The goal of surveillance is to detect cancer at its earliest stage. Screening recommendations vary, and your doctor may suggest a screening schedule based on your individual situation. The American Cancer Society recommends that women at high risk get a mammogram and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) every year beginning at age 30. Depending on your level of risk, your doctor may also recommend that you receive a clinical breast exam as often as twice a year beginning at age 25. Your doctor might also suggest that you perform a monthly breast self-exam beginning at age 18.
- Chemoprevention. In this approach, you may prevent breast cancer by taking drugs that block the effects of estrogen, because estrogen can promote breast cancer development and growth. Tamoxifen, the first drug used for this purpose, has long been prescribed to prevent breast cancer recurrence in women who have already been treated for estrogen receptor positive cancer. A similar drug — raloxifene (Evista) — also is available for preventing invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women at high risk of developing the disease. Both drugs have been shown to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer by approximately 50 percent. However, they come with serious risks, including blood clots and strokes, as well as side effects, such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Talk with your doctor about the risks and benefits of these drugs.
- Lifestyle. You may reduce your risk of breast cancer if you exercise regularly, limit alcohol use, maintain a healthy body weight, breast-feed for at least several months and avoid long-term postmenopausal hormone therapy.
A difficult decision
Only women with a high risk of developing breast cancer are candidates for prophylactic mastectomy, and the decision can be difficult to make. Researching your options and talking with your doctor can give you the information you need to decide whether prophylactic mastectomy is right for you.
Previous page(2 of 2)
References
- Preventative mastectomy: Questions and answers. National Cancer Institute. www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/preventative-mastectomy. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Can breast cancer be prevented? American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_Can_breast_cancer_be_prevented_5.asp. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Genetic risk assessment and BRCA mutation testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility: Recommendation statement. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf05/brcagen/brcagenrs.htm. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Tamoxifen: Questions and answers. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/therapy/tamoxifen. Accessed Sept. 10, 2009.
- Mammograms and other breast imaging procedures. American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6X_Mammography_and_other_Breast_Imaging_Procedures_5.asp. Accessed Sept. 12, 2009.
- Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) Trial. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/digestpage/STAR/page1. Accessed Sept. 12, 2009.
- Isaacs C, et al. Options for women with a genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009.
- Fletcher SW. Overview of genetics in breast and ovarian cancer. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Sept. 14, 2009.
- Jatoi I, et al. Management of women who have a genetic predisposition for breast cancer. Surgical Clinics of North America. 2008;88:845.
- Prophylactic mastectomy. Breastcancer.org. http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/surgery/prophylactic_mast.jsp. Accessed Sept. 18, 2009.
- Pruthi S (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Rochester, Minn. Oct. 5, 2009.
