Sharon Tollin on the Effect of Prophylactic Risk-Reducing Surgery

Sharon Tollin, PhD, ARNP-BC, OCN®, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, discusses research she presented at the ONS Connections Conference 2013.

Tollin set out to analyze women with a BRCA mutation who had no disease, comparing those who had prophylactic risk-reducing surgery (such as mastectomy and removal of tubes and ovaries) to those who had no surgery. The study analyzed these two groups of patients regarding quality of life (QoL), sexual functioning, and menopausal symptoms.

The study found that between these groups, QoL was essentially identical. In women whose tubes and ovaries were removed, there were some differences seen in sexual functioning. Women who had prophylactic risk-reducing surgery also saw differences in menopausal symptoms. This information should be disclosed to women planning to undergo surgery, Tollin says, to help them prepare for potential side effects.