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Little Elm previvor has preventative surgery for cancer
By Penny Rathbun, Staff writer
Denise Phelps of Little Elm last Friday underwent a bilateral mastectomy as a way to avoid getting breast cancer.
At first it seems like a draconian measure to take to avoid the risk of breast cancer n removing healthy breasts.
Prophylactic mastectomies were performed infrequently several or more decades ago. Now the procedure is among a number of options women have for dealing with the threat of breast cancer. For women who have a mutant gene known as BRCA I or BRCA II, mastectomy as a preventive measure, is a viable option.
A few months after her mother, Linda Wingo, was diagnosed with breast cancer, Phelps found a book, “Pretty is What Changes” by Jessica Queller. The author had a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy at the age of 35. After her mother died of breast cancer the TV writer had herself tested for the BRCA gene. Her doctors told her she had a high chance of getting breast cancer, so she opted for the surgery. The book is about that experience.
Phelps’, mother, Laura Wingo, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. Her grandmother and several aunts also had breast cancer. Phelps’ test determined she had inherited the BRCA gene.
Women who have the gene must undergo mammograms, MRIs, and other tests every six months to make sure they have not developed cancer. Phelps decided she did not want to face having to go through all those tests for the rest of her life.
Her first round of diagnostic tests turned up a benign tumor. She decided to have the preventive surgery rather than putting up with years of going through testing and waiting for the results.
She will not have to endure chemotherapy and the side effects that come with it, such as losing her hair and feeling very ill. Her odds of getting breast cancer after the surgery are much lower than those the general population faces.
She also had breast reconstruction done right after the mastectomy was completed.
“You go to sleep with two and wake up with two,” she joked.
She has three boys, ages 11, 8, and 5. She said her husband supported her decision. She is now known as a previvor, someone who has undergone surgery to prevent getting cancer.
Phelps’ doctor, Beth Anglin, said her patient came through the surgery very well. Anglin is a breast surgeon on the staff at Centennial Medical Center in Frisco and another area hospital.
She said surgical and reconstructive techniques have advanced a long way just in the last five to 10 years. She said the BRCA gene was discovered in 1996 or 1997.
“Better plastic surgery techniques make it much easier for someone to think about,” Anglin said. “There are a lot more techniques. Doctors are even back to using silicone. It’s more natural than saline. I think it’s good for the patients. They feel better.”
In the United States, 50 percent of women with the BRCA gene will have preventative surgery, but in Europe only 30 percent of that group will have the surgery, Anglin said. She also cautioned that women who have prophylactic mastectomies are still at risk for ovarian cancer and must still be tested with sonograms and MRIs.
Anglin also said that men may also carry the BRCA gene and those with the gene are at greater risk for breast cancer and prostate cancer. Men don’t often get tested for the gene or for breast cancer.
Anglin said that anyone with two or three relatives who have had breast cancer under the age of 50 should be tested for the BRCA gene. Ashkenazi Jews also have a greater risk of having the breast cancer gene.
“What’s your life worth,” Phelps said. “Women need to explore their options. If they need to take the test they should take it with or without insurance.”
Anglin agrees. “If it’s in your family, then it’s just a matter of time,” she said. “Knowledge is power. If you know you have the gene, then you can do something.
Anglin formed FORCE, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered, a support group of breast and other cancer previvors and survivors.
For information on FORCE and hereditary cancer, visit the Web site facingourrisk.org.
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