Does Prophylactic Contralateral Breast Mastectomy Prolong Survival?

Perhaps in younger women (especially those aged <50) who have early-stage, estrogen receptor–negative breast cancers, but data are not conclusive.

In recent years (largely as a result of more-widespread use of breast magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]), certain patients who undergo breast cancer surgery have been treated for clinically silent contralateral breast cancers that have been detected with preoperative bilateral MRI (JW Oncol Hematol Apr 13 2010). These diagnostic and treatment trends raise the question of whether contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) confers any clinical benefits.

To address this issue, investigators used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify >107,000 women who underwent mastectomy for breast cancer, a subset of whom (8902 patients) also underwent CPM from 1998 to 2003. After median follow-up of 47 months, patients w…

Reviewing Author

William J. Gradishar, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardLilly; AstraZeneca; Gilead

Grant/Research SupportBreast Cancer Research Foundation

Editorial BoardsClinical Breast Cancer; Oncology; Annals of Surgery; Breast Cancer Research and Treatment

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNational Comprehensive Cancer Network (Chair, Breast Cancer Panel); American Board of Internal Medicine (Medical Oncology Board)