YourSpine.com - Chiropractic - Mastectomy More Common In US Than UK

Mastectomy More Common In US Than UK

A study presented at the 25^th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on December 13, 2002 found that U.S. doctors are much more likely to perform mastectomies than British doctors.

These findings come on the heels of research showing that lumpectomies are as effective as the more invasive and disfiguring mastectomies.

Lead researcher Dr. Gershon Locker, a professor of medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois warns, “When a doctor recommends mastectomy, you have to ask, ‘Why?’”

According to Locker, 51% of American women in the study underwent a mastectomy while 42% of women in the U.K did. “This means American doctors are 21% more likely to perform a mastectomy than British doctors.”

“The argument can be made,” Locker said, “that we should be [switching to lumpectomies] faster.”

Change Zip Code Close