Prophylactic surgery

Prophylactic surgery (also known as preventive surgery or risk-reducing surgery), is a form of surgery whose purpose is to minimize or prevent the risk of developing cancer in an organ or gland that has yet to develop cancer and is known to be at high risk of developing cancer. This form of preventive healthcare may include surgeries such as mastectomies, oophorectomies, colectomies and surgical corrections, such as the surgical correction of cryptorchidism or undescended testis. Another less common definition of prophylactic surgery also includes the prevention of other diseases, outcomes or even future appearance. Throughout most of history, preventive medical techniques have been largely ignored and mostly only relegated to scarce occurrences. Despite the prevalence of diseases such as syphilis, leprosy and the black plague throughout the late Middle Ages, the concepts of preventive medicine was largely ignored despite advancements in quarantining and sanitary techniques. Furthermore, the high mortality rate of surgeries both during and post-operation deemed these procedures to be too high of a risk to take for a preventive measure. This changed however with the introduction of anesthesia, advancements in anatomy and with the introduction anti-septic or aseptic techniques alongside further advancements in sanitary techniques in the 19th to 20th century allowed surgeons to consider prophylactic surgeries without running the high risks previously experienced. One may choose to undergo prophylactic surgery if they believe that it is within their best interest to undergo a procedure in order to remove a high-risk organ or gland. There are several types of preventable surgeries that are known to substantially decrease the risk of future disease. Since prophylactic surgeries are usually permanent and irreversible, the pros and cons must be carefully weighed by individuals considering the procedure. There is a whole myriad of ethical, physiological and psychological considerations to be made before taking such a procedure.

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Related concepts (7)

Hereditary cancer syndrome

A hereditary cancer syndrome (familial/family cancer syndrome, inherited cancer syndrome, cancer predisposition syndrome, cancer syndrome, etc.) is a genetic disorder in which inherited genetic mutations in one or more genes predispose the affected individuals to the development of cancer and may also cause early onset of these cancers. Hereditary cancer syndromes often show not only a high lifetime risk of developing cancer, but also the development of multiple independent primary tumors.

Prophylactic surgery

Salpingo-oophorectomy

In medicine, salpingo-oophorectomy is the removal of an ovary and its Fallopian tube. This procedure is most frequently associated with prophylactic surgery in response to the discovery of a BRCA mutation, particularly those of the normally tumor suppressing BRCA1 gene (or, with a statistically lower negative impact, those of the tumour suppressing BRCA2 gene), which can increase the risk of a woman developing ovarian cancer to as high as 65% (as high as 25% for a mutated BRCA2 gene).