According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, surgical removal of breasts and ovaries of women with certain gene mutation, improves their longevity. Women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are at a 56% to 84% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer — five times the risk of non-carriers.
Researchers found that those women, who had the precautionary surgical removal of their fallopian tubes and ovaries, were seen to be at 89% lesser risk of developing ovarian cancer. In addition, this prophylactic surgery also lessened their chances of developing breast cancer by 61%.
Among those high risk women who carried the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, who underwent prophylactic mastectomies, none went on to develop breast cancer. Over all the longevity prognosis of the study participants was also seen to improve greatly when they had the surgeries performed.
This research proves a long help medical hypothesis that preemptive surgery can reduce cancer risk very greatly. It is recommended that all women who have the BRCA gene mutation should have surgical breast removal. It is also recommended the mutation carriers, once they are finished having children, should also have their ovaries removed to reduce their predisposition to cancer.
