When a doctor diagnosed Madalyn Allen this summer with Stage II breast cancer, she knew what she wanted for treatment.
I said to my daughter, I'm just going to do what I've always thought and get a total mastectomy on both sides, said the 67-year-old Lincoln woman.
Or so she thought. Until she met with Dr. Edibaldo Silva, a physician at Nebraska Medicine and professor of department surgery at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
"In 2006 and 2013, the number of women who have been having mastectomies - double mastectomies - began to increase," he said.
In fact, the numbers showed breast cancer patients like Allen were opting for a mastectomy over other available treatment options. Doctors say the rising trend is due in part to high profile patients sharing their reasons for seeking the treatment and misinformation.
Mainly these patients felt a mastectomy was more aggressive, he said, by removing the breast tissue for a small cell.
According to Dr. Silva, those who carry the BRCA gene are typically good candidates for a mastectomy,
Still, he urges patients to get informed.
"Nearly all women who have small cancers are candidates for breast cancer conservation or lumpectomy," he said.
In the end, Allen made the right medical choice for her, she said.
"[My doctor] said lumpectomy would be fine," Allen said. "If it was just a small little cancer."
