There is a trend afoot that more women are opting to do this. But it may be related more to fear than to medical necessity.

When they're first diagnosed with breast cancer, some women seek to end their breast cancer nightmares by doing all they can to reduce their risk of getting breast cancer again. Having breast cancer in one breast, however, doesn't mean you are destined to get it in the other breast, too.

Women who carry a breast cancer gene or are very young at the time of diagnosis may have a higher risk of getting breast cancer again over time. But in general, a woman's risk of getting a new primary breast cancer in the opposite breast is between 5 and 10 percent. Turn that number around and there is a greater than 90 percent chance that she won't ever get breast cancer in the unaffected side.

It's easy to say "don't worry" (and this is coming from someone who fell into the 5 to 10 percent group that got it in the other breast), but I suggest you think long and hard before making a quick decision to remove both breasts.

Here are some rational reasons to consider prophylactic surgery on the other breast:

• You are genetically positive for a BRCA gene.
• You are having flap surgery from the abdomen to reconstruct your breast. Since the fat from your tummy used for this surgery can only be harvested once, you're opting to build two breasts instead of one to avoid the possibility of having to do a different type of reconstruction - and a different cosmetic result - later on.
• You are seeking symmetry between both breasts. You want to have two flap breasts or two implants, not one of each.
• You are an incurable worry wart and cannot bear to live with the thought of even a 5 to 10 percent risk.