How Having A Test On Breast Reduction Tissue May Detect Cancer

Written by admin on November 23rd, 2009

In general, women are not in favor of a breast reduction surgery as social trends indicate that medium or large breasts are more popular with the opposite sex. Also, there are very few men who will support their wives or girlfriends decision to undergo this procedure were it not a matter of life and death.

With so many people going under the knife to increase the size of their breasts, it is more common for women to opt for a breast enhancement surgery than for a Reduction Mammaplasty. However, Reduction Mammaplastys are now being seen with favor by women with very large breasts, who experience some amount of discomfort because of their large chest size. Reduction Mammaplasty, which is the technical term for a breast reduction surgery has a number of different benefits, and is slowly becoming popular according to a UK breast reduction surgery.

The procedure takes place with the surgeon removing breast implants, fat, glandular tissue and skin in order to reduce the size of the breasts. This surgery is also useful when the patient is growing a bit old and their breasts have begun to sag.

Recently scientists have discovered yet another reason that favors reduction mammaplasty, and this factor is definitely worth considering. During the process of the surgery, the surgeon typically removes certain quantities of fat and tissue. These can then be tested in order to find out if the patient has breast cancer. Since these tests take place well before the discovery of a lump, breast cancer can be detected at a very early stage and then be removed. This is a relatively new finding, having been released only in October 2009 at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons conference.

According to the study conducted, around 12% of all the patients who undergo breast reduction surgery possibly have abnormal pathologies, which indicates an increased risk of succumbing to breast cancer, which is a terrible disease that threatens the lives of many women. Another advantage is that this method has proved to be more cost efficient, where reduction mammaplasty patients of all ages are screened, rather than just women over 40 who are recommended to have a mammography routinely. While 12% may not seem like a very large number, especially given that there are not as many women who undergo breast reduction surgery as those who get breast augmentation, it is still a sizable number and detecting cancer early could definitely be the difference between life and death for these women.

According to Kristin Stueber, who co-authored the study “We are in a time in medicine when cost is an important factor. Pressure from insurance companies and general administrators often force physicians to consider the cost of care when treating a patient. However, detecting breast cancer as early as possible reduces treatment costs and saves lives. In the end, we found that although it may cost more up-front to screen each breast reduction patient for cancer, we saved money and helped patients to get treatment sooner.” She also added “If we were to limit our pathologic examination of breast tissue to breast reduction patients older than 40, we would fail to identify 20 percent of moderate to high risk pathology, which is simply not an acceptable risk. Besides the potential cost savings in testing, the cost for treating a cancer patient down the road is certainly more than any savings we could produce in the short term.”

Although this does seem like a compelling reason for women with large breasts to undergo breast reduction surgery, such a decision may not receive much support from husbands and boyfriends.

If this procedure becomes popular in the next few years, more women will follow the trend set by celebrities like Drew Barrymore and Queen Latifah who all underwent breast reduction surgery.

Tags:

Leave a Reply