Selective surgery to prevent cancer.

[Munus43]

I had a discussion with a doctor who assured me that if I had my breasts removed I could not get breast cancer. If I had a family history of breast cancer or ovarian/uterine cancer and had a mastectomy or hysterectomy, can I still get breast or uterine/ovarian cancer?

[Munus43]

Thank you Butterfly for your timely response. I shall check the mentioned discussion. As an aside, regarding the doctor in my question, it was more of an argument then actual advice. For some reason I was under the impression that if someone had a predisposition to breast/ovarian/uterine/cervical cancer, then removing them would certainly be a precaution but not an absolute. In other words, once removed the patient could possible, although it would not be probable, get that type of cancer. I agree with you totally about removing healthy tissue, but I do know people who have elected to have this type of surgery. Thanks again.

[iam1butterfly]

I have a problem with that doctor's philosophy... I suppose that if I had my head cut off, I could avoid Brain Cancer. I can't see removing healthy, non-cancerous breasts, even as a preventive measure... but, that's just me.
Anyway, this site hosted an excellent chat discussion regarding Breast Cancer Genetics with geneticist, Dr. Charis Eng. During the discussion, she stated that "... 5-15% of all cancers have a genetic predisposition."  It's not a big percentage; but, it's a percentage all the same. And, genetics is one of many risk factors. This is where having regular annual check-ups, timely diagnostic exams (i.e. mammograms), and self-exams come into play.
If you're interested, you can read that whole chat discussion titled, Breast Cancer Genetics by going to the top of this site page and click over, Doctors. From there, click over Health Chats. Then, go to Archives. From there, find Dr. Charis Eng and click to read the discussion. It's very insightful and informative especially, if you're interested in Breast Cancer and how it relates to family history (genetics).