A mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of a woman’s breast. A double mastectomy is removal of both breasts. This is usually done in cases of breast cancer or even in cases where there is no breast cancer but as a preventative measure. Women who have had genetic testing and discovered having a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are at increased risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer.
According to studies, women having a mutated BRCA1 gene have a 50% to 65% chance of developing breast cancer by age 70 and 35% to 46% chance of developing ovarian cancer. Having a mutated BRCA2 gene lowers the risk factor to 40% to 57% for breast cancer by age 70 and 13% to 23% for ovarian cancer. The gene mutation is inherited from one’s parents.
Angelina Jolie’s doctors calculated that she had an 87% chance of developing cancer, not just because she had inherited the faulty gene, but also because her mother died of ovarian cancer at age 56. Angelina decided to have a double mastectomy as a preventative measure and this has apparently reduced her chances of getting breast cancer to about 5%. More and more women are undergoing genetic testing and when they find out that they have these faulty genes, they are getting mastectomy and having their ovaries removed in order to prevent cancer.
Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women in the United States after skin cancer, as per Cancer.org. Ovarian cancer is much harder to detect and 5 year survival rates of 44% (as per American Cancer Society) are much lower than for breast cancer.
A Quick Glance at Breast Removal
The process of removing the breasts is termed a prophylactic mastectomy. There are several types of mastectomys, depending upon the cancer situation:
· A radical mastectomy is done on women with invasive breast cancer.
· A simple mastectomy achieves the greatest risk reduction because it removes most of the breast tissue. It is recommended for women who don’t plan to have breast reconstruction.
· Skin-sparing mastectomy removes breast tissue, nipple, and areola but leaves some excess tissue to allow for breast reconstruction. It results in less scarring.
· Nipple-sparing mastectomy removes the breast tissue but leaves the nipple and areola intact, so that the breast look more natural.
There are other types of mastectomys, as well, and which one is used depends on the nature of the cancer, age and health of the patient.
Angelina’s Surgery
Angelina had her nipples preserved but most of the breast tissue was removed and lymph nodes also tested for traces of cancer. Following a mastectomy, most women have a plastic surgeon reconstruct their breasts. Angelina had implants inserted and skin grafted over them to create new breasts.
A mastectomy affects each woman in different ways. Some become depressed at feeling that they have lost a part of their femininity. Their self-image may be affected. There are also side-effects to the surgery. Scars may be visible and lifting your arms can be very painful in the beginning due to stretching the skin and the scar tissue.
Most women tend to only have a mastectomy if they do have cancer and if it is necessary. However, gene testing is being pushed and when faulty genes show up, a mastectomy is often recommended. Still, the decision to surgically remove healthy breasts is certainly controversial, since every human body part is susceptible to cancer and removing body parts is not really the ideal solution.
The cost of a mastectomy is very high in Western countries and even those who have medical insurance report being charged fees of between 10-25,000 dollars for miscellaneous things. In the US alone, about 21 million women do not even have health insurance. However, consider a low cost mastectomy in Turkey, Mexico or any other medical tourism destination where you can get your procedure done quickly with no waiting times and also save a bundle of money.
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