NEW YORK - Most doctors don't talk about breast reconstruction with women before cancer surgery, depriving them of key information that can sway their decision about whether to have the whole breast or just a lump removed, new research suggests.
Only one-third of the roughly 1,200 women in the study said surgeons discussed cosmetic remedies with them in advance. When the topic did come up, women were four times more likely to choose the more drastic operation, mastectomy.
That could be because they liked the breast reconstruction options, which include implants that are not available for fixing odd-shaped defects left after lumpectomies. But mastectomies can be a dubious choice because breast-conserving lumpectomies usually suffice.
"Our point is not to say that one decision is better than another, but that women need to know all their options," said Dr. Amy Alderman, the University of Michigan plastic surgeon who led the study. "There are positives and negatives to both. We shouldn't be paternalistic and tell patients, 'This is what you need.' "
Dr. H. Kim Lyerly, a breast surgeon and director of Duke University's Comprehensive Cancer Center, agreed. "This is an important issue," he said.
The study was published online today by the journal Cancer and will be in the Feb. 1 issue.
It is the second report in recent days to call attention to the often-neglected cosmetic consequences of cancer surgery. Studies at last week's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium highlighted some of these, including the limited options for millions of women left with dimpled or cratered breasts after lumpectomies.
Doctors say the latest study, done in more than 100 hospitals in the Detroit and Los Angeles areas, may overstate the doctor-patient communication problem, but they acknowledge that one exists.
"I would bet that we have been so obsessed with treatment that this quality-of-life issue is one that we just haven't focused on," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society.
