According to William Dooley, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, when cancer is removed without amputating the breast and then followed by radiation, the treatment has the same survival rate as amputating the breast entirely. The following information was provided by Dr. Dooley, The American Cancer Society, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, The National Cancer Institute, and The National Women s Health Information Center. The National Cancer Institute estimates that one out of eight women will develop breast cancer over the course of a lifetime. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women of all ages and is the leading cause of death among women between the ages of 35 and 54.
Most women have options that range from breast conservation to mastectomy.
Breast conservation includes a surgical procedure, commonly known as a lumpectomy, to remove the cancerous mass or lump from the breast, followed then by several weeks of radiation treatments to the breast. In a mastectomy, the breast is amputated. In a majority of cases, breast cancer patients choosing mastectomy will not have to undergo radiation. Women who choose breast conservation are as likely to survive as those who choose mastectomy. Some women are sure they will never really feel whole without their breasts, so for them the decision in favor of breast conservation is more clear.