Now, a small study suggests it's possible to combine the two procedures into a single operation without undue complications, according to a report in the online journal BMC Cancer Thursday.
On average, the combined procedure took 9.3 hours to perform and patients were hospitalized for 5.4 days afterward.
Women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are known to be at greatly increased risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. By 70 years of age, up to 85 percent of carriers will develop invasive breast cancer and up to 65 percent will develop invasive ovarian cancer, the team from the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston notes.
Women with these mutations may opt to be intensively monitored for any sign of cancer, to take preventive measures with tamoxifen treatment, or to undergo preemptive removal of her breasts and ovaries. Although the last approach is more aggressive, research has shown it to be highly effective in preventing the associated cancers.
(Agencies)
