Double Mastectomies Are on the Rise in Men with Breast Cancer

Surgeries to remove a healthy breast — one that doesn't have breast cancer in it, in hopes of preventing cancer from developing — are known to be increasingly common in women. Now, a new study shows that these surgeries, called contralateral prophylactic mastectomies, also have increased sharply in men in the past decade. Between 2004 and 2011, the rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomies in men nearly doubled, with 5.6 percent of men with breast cancer undergoing the operation in 2011, compared with 3 percent in 2004, according to the study. However, this type of mastectomy isn't always necessary, the researchers cautioned in their study, published today (Sept. 2) in the journal JAMA Surgery.