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American Morning

Mastectomy Perhaps Beneficial for Women With High Breast Cancer Risk

Aired July 19, 2001 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new study says that surgery to remove healthy breasts may be beneficial for women at high risk of developing breast cancer. The study focuses on women with a gene that can trigger the disease.

Our medical news correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at the tough choices and the potential benefits that come with genetic testing and preventive medicine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Johanna Anderson recently had a mastectomy for breast cancer. Her other breast is clear of cancer, but she's thinking about having that one removed as well.

JOHANNA ANDERSON: I'm hoping that within the next less than two years, maybe, we can go on and do the second breast.

GUPTA: Johanna tested positive for BRCA-1, one of two known genes that put patients at high risk for breast cancer. She has up to an 85 percent chance of developing cancer in the other breast. Her thoughts are now on prevention.

DR. SUSAN LOVE, BREAST CANCER SURGEON: I think that any woman who has the gene for breast cancer needs to look at all of her options for prevention.

GUPTA: And now there's evidence one controversial option should be seriously considered. A new study found that otherwise healthy women with one of these two genes may benefit from one of the most radical prevention in medicine: prophylactic mastectomy -- that is the removal of breasts without cancer.

LOVE: It certainly looks like that will reduce the risk at least 90 percent and maybe even more than that.

GUPTA: Many argue that simply getting more frequent mammograms would be adequate, but Dr. Susan Love isn't so sure.

LOVE: The idea, with our current tools, that we can find these cancers at a curable stage if we just watch closely enough and image them is not panning out. GUPTA: Genetic testing may offer meaningful early prevention options, but also some concerns. It can help catch and treat the actual disease before it spreads. Preventative therapies are usually much cheaper, in the long run, than treating late-stage illness.

But the knowledge that patients are at higher risk may cause significant anxiety, and many worry that health insurance companies may abuse the information and deny coverage to people who are at risk of developing illness.

This genetic information could save lives. Women in the study who tested positive for BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 and had prophylactic mastectomies did not develop breast cancer during the three years they were followed, whereas eight of the 63 women in the study who tested positive for one of the two genes and opted not to have the surgery did develop breast cancer.

(on camera): Researchers say, as always, it's important to discuss treatment options with your doctor. This study, however, may be the most evidence to support women's difficult decisions (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES) removed.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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