Assessing Breast Cancer Risk Prior to Gender-Affirming Chest Masculinization Surgery

Project Description Narrative:

The population of transgender and nonbinary persons (TGNB) in Wisconsin and the U.S. is steadily increasing. As this population grows, the number of individuals seeking gender-affirming therapies, including gender-affirming operations and gender-affirming hormone therapy, is also growing. An example of gender-affirming surgery is chest masculinization surgery, in which the majority of breast tissue is removed in a person with a female sex assigned at birth to allow the chest to appear masculine.

The goals of this investigation are to 1) determine the percent of TGNB persons undergoing chest masculinization surgery who have an elevated lifetime risk of breast cancer development and/or a pathogenic genetic mutation; 2) measure the percent who are at risk and choose to undergo risk-reducing mastectomies as part of chest masculinization surgery; and 3) assess and compare self-perceived breast cancer risk with calculated risk.

The results of this study will substantially inform TGNB patients and surgeons on the utility of personalized breast cancer risk assessment prior to chest masculinization surgery and the accuracy of self-perceived breast cancer risk in TGNB persons.