Articles
Prophylactic oophorectomy: Preventing cancer by surgically removing your ovaries
Do women have to take post-menopausal hormone therapy after oophorectomy?
Why might a woman opt for oophorectomy over mastectomy?
Content
What is oophorectomy?
Who can consider prophylactic oophorectomy?
How much can oophorectomy reduce the risk of cancer?
What are the risks of oophorectomy?
Do you need postmenopausal hormone therapy after oophorectomy?
Are there alternatives to oophorectomy for preventing ovarian cancer?
Doesn't mastectomy offer a greater reduction in breast cancer risk?
Why might a person opt for oophorectomy over mastectomy?
What questions should you ask your doctor?
Doesn't mastectomy offer a greater reduction in breast cancer risk?
Yes. Surgery to remove your breasts (bilateral mastectomy) may reduce your risk of breast cancer by 90 percent. As an example, if your risk of developing breast cancer at some point in your lifetime is 50 percent, a preventive mastectomy may lower your risk to 5 percent.
Put another way, for every 100 women with that same level of risk who undergo preventive mastectomy, five could be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives.
