Risk-reducing surgery such as prophylactic bilateral mastectomy may be considered by women at high risk of developing breast cancer (NCI 2015), including those with a mutation in a major breast cancer predisposition gene such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 (Cancer Council Australia 2015).

Bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy reduces the absolute risk of breast cancer by at least 90 per cent (NCI 2015). Even with total mastectomy, not all breast tissue can be removed. The remaining breast tissue may be at risk of becoming cancerous in the future (NCI 2013).

Knowledge of a woman’s risk factors can be used to objectively assess her individual breast cancer risk using a validated tool such as iPrevent.