According to recent studies, the survival benefit from preventive mastectomy is small and varies among women.

Many women suffering from breast cancer are adopting mastectomy on their disease-free breast to reduce their risk of cancer in that breast.

"The survival benefit was limited to a small subset of all breast cancer patients studied", said Study Author, Dr. Isabelle Bedrosian, an Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.

Those who are below the age 50 and who have been diagnosed with early-stage cancers that were estrogen receptor (ER)-negative have a bigger chance of survival.

The study was published online on Feb. 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

According to Bedrosian and others, experts have long known that women diagnosed with breast cancer have a higher risk of developing cancer in the opposite breast. Removing that breast as a preventive measure reduces, but does not eradicate, the risk of cancer in that breast.

However, she said that psychological factors should also be taken into account. "There are some patients who may feel they still want to do this", she said.

Dr. Allison W. Kurian, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California agreed, "This paper does give more information about the outlook for various women, but it remains a personal decision for women to discuss with their doctor".