Breast cancer diagnosis can be just as stressful and frightening as it is for women that to reduce the risk of possible recurrence, men opt for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) or more commonly known as double mastectomy, a new study suggests.
For the study, which is published in JAMA, a group of researchers from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and American Cancer Society (ACS) looked into the data available in North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, especially information on male breast cancer patients who had opted to remove the afflicted breast. For over a period of almost 10 years since 2004, they identified more than 6,000 of them.
However, within the same period, they also learned that those who chose a CPM rose from 3% in 2004 to almost 6% in 2011.
According to the author of the study Ahmedin Jemal, who's also the appointed vice president of the research for health services and surveillance of ACS, they are not sure why more men are selecting the procedure. The procedure is not only risky and expensive, but there's also no solid evidence to show that it can increase the rate of survival.
They believe, though, that it has something to do with socio-demographics. It could be that they were greatly influenced by Angelina Jolie, who underwent the same procedure 2 years ago as a preventive measure when she discovered she carried the defective genes. Another possible reason is insurance policies that already provide coverage for reconstructive surgeries. Based on the same study, most of those who went for CPM are privately insured.
Breast cancer is uncommon among males as they make up only 1% of all the breast cancer cases in the United States. However, of the more than 2,000 patients diagnosed each year, at least 440 of them are going to die from the disease. The risk of recurrence is also higher among men than women. By removing both breasts, including the healthy one, they hope to avoid that from happening.