BURBANK : More Women Decide Against Mastectomy

For National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, St. Joseph Medical Center released its own statistics showing that between 1987 and 1992, more than 71% of the women seen at the center with early breast cancers were treated with breast conservation and radiation therapy. These therapies--in which only the tumor and a portion of surrounding tissue are removed--are seen as alternatives to radical mastectomies, in which most or all of the breast is removed.

In 1989, the most recent data available, only 27% of women statewide with the early stages of breast cancer were treated with conservation and radiation.

Some women, however, will still opt for the mastectomy even after being told they have a choice, said Dr. Gale Katterhagen, director of the hospital’s cancer treatment center.

It has only been in recent years that national medical groups have started to promote the option to full mastectomy.

But many doctors continue to believe that the safest way to ensure that the cancer is controlled is to remove it completely as part of a radical mastectomy.