(07-10-13) Cancer clinics use irrational fear to trick women into unnecessary mastectomies

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) More women than ever who have been diagnosed with breast cancer
in just one breast are opting to have both of them cut off, apparently out of
concern that the disease might end up spreading to the healthy breast if they
leave it alone. But this increasingly common procedure, known as a
contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), has proven to be more fear-based
than anything, as expert analysis shows that CPM does basically nothing to
increase a woman's chances of survival.

Yet, despite its failure to stack up scientifically, the CPM procedure somehow
continues to grow in popularity, an anomalous phenomenon that a new study
recently published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine suggests might be
the cancer industry's fault. Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
in Boston found that many women simply have a false understanding of what CPM
can do for them, which is a direct result of the cancer industry overstating
its alleged benefits and understating its many risks.

The study, which was led by Shoshana Rosenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., from Dana-
Farber's Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers, included analysis of survey
data collected from 123 women under the age of 40 who had decided to undergo
the CPM procedure. Each of these women only had detected cancer in one of her
breasts prior to getting both of them removed, and most of them did not have a
so-called "genetic predisposition" to breast cancer, which is alleged to be the
only potential legitimate application of CPM.

For the survey, each woman was asked why she opted for the CPM procedure in
the first place and what she knew about it prior to giving her informed consent
to have it done. Each woman's understanding of the risks and benefits of CPM
was also assessed, as were individual levels of satisfaction with the procedure
after it was completed.

Cancer industry myths driving many women to have their breasts needlessly
removed
Not surprisingly, most of the women responded to the survey indicating that
they chose CPM, because they thought that it would help improve their chances
of survival by preventing cancer in the one breast from spreading. Even though
this is not actually the case, and many of the women admitted their awareness
of this fact, they all still went ahead with the procedure anyway.

As it turns out, there was an overall misunderstanding of the science behind
CPM among virtually all participating women. All the women indicated an
unrealistic understanding of the benefits of the procedure that minimized its
many risks, which include severe disfigurement. There was also a collective
misunderstanding of the success rate of the CPM procedure, which was inflated
in the women's minds by a factor of five.

While science dictates that as little as two percent of all women diagnosed
with breast cancer can expect to derive any benefit whatsoever from the CPM
procedure, the women who participated in the study falsely believed this figure
to be ten percent. Many of them also had impractical notions about what their
breasts would look like after the procedure -- a shocking 42 percent of the
women indicated that their sense of sexuality was damaged following the
procedure.

"Our findings underscore how important it is that doctors effectively
communicate the risks and benefits of CPM to women," says Rosenberg, adding
that "anxiety and fear of recurrence" are the most probable drivers behind this
increasing trend. "We need to be sure that women are making informed decisions,
supported decisions, based on an accurate understanding of the pros and cons of
the procedure, and in a setting where anxiety and concerns can be addressed."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

http://www.science20.com

http://www.cbsnews.com

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In evidenza

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Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.