Counseling breast cancer patients on contralateral prophylactic mastectomy: the physician's role.

Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) cancer registry, we recently reported that the rate of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) for stage I–III unilateral breast cancer increased by 150% from 1998 to 2003 in the United States.[1] We found that the CPM rate increased through the end of our study period with no diminution in the incline of the curve. Based on 2003 data, we estimate that about 10,000 breast cancer patients with unilateral breast cancer undergo CPM in the United States each year. In our study, young patient age, non-Hispanic white race, lobular histology, and previous cancer diagnosis were associated with significantly higher CPM rates.