Jefferson study shows women with inherited breast cancer gene at greater risk for recurrence and ...( some difficult decisions regarding appr...)

"If you told a woman with a damaged BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene that in nine years, 40 to 50 percent of patients like you are going to have a new breast cancer, and you may need a mastectomy, then you'd have to ask her, would you rather have the lumpectomy and seven weeks of radiation or would you rather have the mastectomy now and reduce the risk of recurrent disease?"

One problem with recurring cancer is the threat that the disease may spread. While breast-conserving therapy may be curative for many women, some women who develop recurrent breast cancer also develop metastatic disease.

Dr. Turner says that researchers now need to "look at patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 who have had a mastectomy and look at the frequency of chest-wall relapse and metastatic disease.

"It makes sense that by removing 90 to 95 percent of the breast cancer cells by mastectomy, the future risk of breast cancer is significantly reduced. But more definitive data is needed before we can justify this recommendation."

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Contact: Steve Benowitz
steven.benowitz@mail.tju.edu
215-955-6300
Thomas Jefferson University
29-Sep-1999