As breast cancer becomes more widespread in men, having a double mastectomy is also becoming a common treatment for it.
Even though only 1 percent of all breast cancer cases in the U.S. are men, they still face the same risks as women, and also are given the same treatment options. And the fears that come with breast cancer, possibly seeing a reoccurrence of it later down the road, are shared between men and women alike, according to NewsWeek.
The surgery to remove the healthy breast in addition to the breast with malignant tissue, called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), is rising in popularity with breast cancer patients. With this surgery, both men and women with the cancer can significantly lower the risk of a future diagnosis.
In a new report that was published on Wednesday in JAMA, researchers from the American Cancer Society and the Dana Farer Cancer Institute discovered that the number of male breast cancer patients who choose to have the CPM surgery is increasing steadily, in fact, doubled between 2004 and 2011.
“We don’t know why it’s happening in men, but we do know the sociodemographic factors that have been associated with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in women are also associated with men,” says Ahmedin Jemal, vice president of surveillance and health services research at the American Cancer Society and author of the study.
He added, that as with the women who are having this surgery, male cancer patients are also more likely to be young, Caucasian and have private insurance.
Research also shows that even though breast cancer in men is rare, men are actually more likely than women to develop breast cancer in their healthy breast at some point.
Some experts are referring to the impact of genetic testing and the “Angelina Jolie effect,” for the spike in CPMs. Two years ago, Jolie publicly announced that she had decided to have a preventive double mastectomy after discovering that she carried the BRCA1gene mutation that boosts the likelihood of having the disease by as much as 87 percent.
“Men can benefit from this procedure,” Jemal says. “What they need to do is talk to their doctors about the benefits, risks and costs. It’s only the patients at high risk who are likely to benefit from the procedure. They need to discuss with the doctor if they’re a candidate. They have to have the information so they can make an informed decision, but it has to be based on scientific evidence.”
