Local Therapy Decision-Making and Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy in Young Women with Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND

Rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) have increased in the United States, with younger women with breast cancer the most likely to have CPM.

METHODS

As part of an ongoing cohort study of young women diagnosed with breast cancer at age ≤40 years, we conducted multinomial logistic regression of data from 560 women with unilateral Stage I-III disease to identify factors associated with: (1) CPM versus unilateral mastectomy (UM); (2) CPM versus breast-conserving surgery (BCS).

RESULTS

Median age at diagnosis was 37 years; 66 % of women indicated that their doctor said that BCS was an option or was recommended. Of all women, 42.9 % had CPM, 26.8 % UM, and 30.4 % BCS. Among women who said the surgical decision was patient-driven, 59.9 % had CPM, 22.8 % BCS, and 17.3 % UM. Clinical characteristics associated with CPM versus BCS included HER2 positivity, nodal involvement, larger tumor size, lower BMI, parity, and testing positive for a BRCA mutation. Emotional and decisional factors associated with CPM versus UM and BCS included anxiety, less fear of recurrence, and reporting a patient-driven decision. Women who reported a physician-driven decision were less likely to have had CPM than both of the other surgeries, whereas higher confidence with the decision was associated with having CPM versus BCS.

CONCLUSIONS

Many young women with early-stage breast cancer are choosing CPM. The association between CPM and emotional and decisional factors suggest that improved communication together with better psychosocial support may improve the decision-making process.