Breast Reduction May Lead to Cancer Detection in Patients

There may be some new added benefits to breast reduction surgery. Testing tissue and fat removed during the procedure may lead to increased cancer detection, reports a new study presented at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2009 conference, Oct. 23-27, in Seattle. Two-hundred-two cases were evaluated. Cancerous or pre-cancerous cells were found in 12.4 percent of patients. Age was significantly associated with negative pathologic findings. The rate of cancer was 6.2 percent in women 40 years or older and 7.9 percent in women 50 years or older. None of the lesions were identified on pre-operative mammograms. The authors suggest that increased testing in breast reduction patients can help to identify at-risk patients, especially in breast reduction patients over 40.

By the Numbers:

Nearly 90,000 women had breast reduction surgery in 2008, up 5 percent since 2000, reports the ASPS.

Source: American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)

Related posts:

1. Breast Reconstruction Procedures – Are Breast Cancer Patients Being Kept In The Dark?
2. Prophylactic Mastectomy: More women choosing to remove healthy breast after cancer diagnosis
3. Increase in Self-Esteem After Breast Reduction
4. Fertility Preservation Decision Making in Cancer Patients
5. Study Links Breast Reduction to Reduced Back Disorders

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 3:36 pm and is filed under United States Plastic Surgery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.