[MEDICAL NEWS TODAY]
After being diagnosed with cancer in one breast, many young women opt to have the other healthy breast removed with a procedure called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), despite knowing that it will probably not improve chances of survival, a new study shows.
Researchers from the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute published their results in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
They note that rates of the procedure have “increased dramatically,” especially in younger breast cancer patients. But until now, little has been known about why they make the decision to go ahead with the procedure.