Bilateral mastectomy effective in preventing contralateral spread for unilateral breast cancer patients: Study

A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association shows that despite contralateral mastectomy is a successful cancer preventive strategy for unilateral breast cancer, it does not lower the chance of breast cancer-related death or raise concerns about the possibility of a de novo contralateral cancer spreading.

Bilateral mastectomy is the treatment of choice for many women with unilateral breast cancer because it is believed to be the most effective way to stop the growth of another breast tumor and lower their chance of mortality. This study indicated that removing an undamaged breast lowers the risk of developing a second breast cancer, but no studies have shown that this lowers the death rate from breast cancer. Thus, this study by Vasily Giannakeas and colleagues was set to calculate the 20-year cumulative risk of breast cancer mortality in women who had unilateral breast cancer ranging from stage 0 to stage III based on the kind of first surgery that was done.

This cohort analysis identified women diagnosed between 2000 and 2019 with unilateral breast cancer (invasive and ductal carcinoma in situ) using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program registry database. Using 1:1:1 matching, three tightly matched cohorts of similar size were produced based on the surgical technique. For 20 years, the cohorts were monitored for breast cancer mortality and contralateral breast cancer. The 20-year cumulative risk of breast cancer mortality for women treated with lumpectomy versus unilateral mastectomy or bilateral mastectomy was evaluated in the research.