Hannah Powell-Auslam, is a rarity, and not in a good way. In fact, she is one of few children to be diagnosed with breast cancer; she is only 10 years old and she is already fighting it. Statistics say 1 in 8 women will face breast cancer, but in terms of children, it would be 1 in 12 million.

A University of Minnesota cancer surgeon and researcher has found a dramatic increase in the number of women diagnosed with the earliest stage of breast cancer choosing to have both breasts surgically removed.

Melbourne, Australia – 3 October, 2008 – A novel endoscopic-assisted technique for skin-sparing mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction can successfully treat early breast cancer patients while offering favourable aesthetic results.

After her diagnosis with Breast Cancer Christina Applegate decided to have a double mastectomy. Applegate's double mastectomy tough choice was also taken after Christina learned that she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene.

Women who have breast reconstruction after an elective mastectomy are satisfied with their decision, have low complication rates and 98 percent would do it again, reports a study in July's Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) falsely detects breast cancer in five out of every six positive scans according to new research into the use of MRI for women with a high, inherited risk of developing the disease. However, this high rate of false positives does not have a major impact on a woman’s decision whether or not to have a prophylactic mastectomy.

Researchers are reporting a 150 percent increase between 1998 and 2003 in American women opting to have both breasts removed when cancer has been found in only one breast—a procedure called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM).

Forty-four percent of surgeons do not refer the majority of their breast cancer patients to a plastic surgeon prior to the initial surgery when the woman is choosing her treatment course, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.