Rancic’s mastectomy choice: Common, sometimes controversial
Giuliana Rancic, the E! News host and reality TV star, made an announcement today that's put her in the company of a growing group of women with breast cancer: Those who choose to have both of their breasts removed.
After Rancic revealed she had breast cancer in October, she had lumpectomies to remove cancerous tissue in both of her breasts. This morning on the TODAY show, she said: "I'm going to go ahead and move forward with a double mastectomy."
Rancic's husband Bill said in the broadcast that doctors had not been able to remove all the cancer in one breast. Rancic said she could have another lumpectomy, with radiation and medication — but "for me, it was very important to just get the cancer out."
She also said prolonged treatment might get in the way of getting pregnant. And she was encouraged by seeing the breasts of a friend who had had successful reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy.
By Frazer Harrison, Getty Images
Preventive double mastectomies have even become more popular among women who have breast cancer in just one breast.
As USA Today's Liz Szabo reported recently, that trend alarms some doctors, who say the extra surgeries are unlikely to prolong the survival of most women who have them.
But doctors say some women could benefit — especially if they carry genetic mutations that greatly increase their cancer risk. And women who have the surgeries often express enormous relief. Among them: celebrity patients Wanda Sykes and Christina Applegate.
As one patient told USA Today: "Only time will tell if I made the right decisions, but I am content with the ones I've made."
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