The rate of breast cancer is holding steady, but federal data released this week shows more women are undergoing mastectomies, in this report from the Orange County Register.
From 2005 to 2013, the rate of mastectomy, where the entire breast is removed, increased by 36 percent, to 90 out of every 100,000 adult U.S. women, according to a new report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality…
It’s a trend some doctors call “alarming” because, they say, breast-saving procedures – including lumpectomies combined with radiation – are as effective at preventing cancer from spreading to other organs but are less invasive and have fewer complications. That’s especially true for women with early-stage cancers in one breast.
With mastectomies, there’s a slightly lower chance of recurrence, but overall, survival rates are the same.
Read further in the Orange County Register.
