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Article: Study: Double Mastectomy Lowers Risk
- Article from:
- AP Online
- Article date:
- November 7, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Associated Press. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Associated Press. (Hide copyright information)
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PAUL RECER, AP Science Writer
AP Online
11-07-2001
Dateline: WASHINGTON
Surgically removing both breasts before disease strikes lowers the risk of breast cancer to almost zero for a rare group of women who have a combination of gene mutations and family members with the disease, a study found.
The study, appearing Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, involved women who had close female relatives with breast cancer and who 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 study, the lifetime risk was 55 percent to 85 ...