Legislation regulating availability of breast cancer treatment with particular focus on prophylactic mastectomy

Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases in the Polish society. In 2015, around 17,000 Polish women were diagnosed with this type of cancer. A comparison of relative survival rates for different European countries shows that the Polish oncological care system is inefficient in terms of breast cancer treatment. Women in Poland have substantially lower chances of surviving the first five years a er being diagnosed than women in most other European countries. An inspiration, and at the same time the main theme of the paper is assessing the availability of a controversial treatment, i.e. risk-reducing mastectomy, to patients at high risk of breast cancer. The primary goal connected with this issue is an analysis of breast cancer prevention in Poland in light of applicable provisions of law and, in a broader context, availability of oncological services in the scope of breast cancer prevention and treatment in Poland. The following research methods were adopted in the implementation of the above mentioned objectives: non-systematic review of the PubMed medical database, review of literature and other available sources of information, including press releases, conference materials and online sources. Furthermore, relevant acts of law have been selected and analysed, with the use of a pre-specified glossary of key terms. Cancers are becoming an increasingly big issue. Every year the incidence rates are higher, and in consequence the number of patients receiving cancer-related benefits grows. The current legal regulations governing the availability of cancer-related benefits seem to be insuficient.