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When Tracy Dunbrook, a bioethicist in Sherman, Conn., tested positive for the BRCA gene mutation, she was told she had a 40 to 60 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer in her lifetime. Doctors advised her to have her ovaries removed.
She considered going further and having a hysterectomy, in which her uterus would be removed, but in the end opted for the standard of care: a procedure known as risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Five years later, she was given a diagnosis of Stage 3 uterine cancer.
"I couldn't believe it," she said, "I thought, this is the dirtiest trick."
Women with BRCA mutations often opt for RRSO. But there is a debate among experts over whether this strategy is the best one for all women, and many patients are caught in the middle, struggling to balance conflicting information about hysterectomy as part of risk-reducing surgery.
"There definitely is an ongoing sense of confusion, and women do agonize over this," said Sue Friedman, executive director of the group Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered...
She considered going further and having a hysterectomy, in which her uterus would be removed, but in the end opted for the standard of care: a procedure known as risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO), removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Five years later, she was given a diagnosis of Stage 3 uterine cancer.
"I couldn't believe it," she said, "I thought, this is the dirtiest trick."
Women with BRCA mutations often opt for RRSO. But there is a debate among experts over whether this strategy is the best one for all women, and many patients are caught in the middle, struggling to balance conflicting information about hysterectomy as part of risk-reducing surgery.
"There definitely is an ongoing sense of confusion, and women do agonize over this," said Sue Friedman, executive director of the group Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered...