The aim of risk-reducing surgery is to reduce the risk of breast cancer by removing the breast tissue, before cancer has developed, in patients at high risk of developing cancer.
Today, the great development of genetic diagnostic methods, the full understanding of the familial transmission of breast cancer and the uncovering of the genetic chromosomal disorders that lead to breast cancer make it possible to calculate to a large extent the likelihood of patients developing breast cancer.
Risk-reducing mastectomy has been developed because of this need. Women who are candidates for risk-reducing mastectomy must first undergo detailed genetic tests that cover all possible chromosomal disorders. Then all possible outcomes should be discussed with the candidate for risk-reducing mastectomy, and all the question marks in the person’s mind should be clarified.
Risk-reducing mastectomy, by performing reconstruction with an implant after bilateral subcutaneous mastectomy, can give the person both freedom from breast cancer and, as a secondary gain, the chance to continue life with more aesthetic breasts.
