Many women are choosing to have both breasts removed — a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy — when only one breast has cancer to prevent developing cancer in the other breast later. A study in Annals of Surgical Oncology found that this type of surgery increased by a factor of 10 from 1998-2007, according to the report. Some physicians, however, have said these surgeries are unlikely to improve women’s survival and that women may overestimate the benefits of double mastectomies.
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