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Article: Study: Double mastectomy reduces breast cancer rate to near zero for women at very high risk
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- November 6, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
AP Worldstream
11-06-2001
Dateline: WASHINGTON
A combination of gene mutations and disease among close relatives can put women at a very high risk of developing breast cancer, but a Mayo Clinic study shows the risk drops nearly to zero if both breasts are surgically removed.
The study, appearing Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, involved a rare group of women _ those who had close female relatives with breast cancer and who also had a mutation in one of two genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2, that have been linked to breast cancer.
Researchers said that the average woman has about a 10 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer. For the women in the new ...