Breast Surgeries
What is breast cancer surgery?
If a patient has breast cancer, the doctor will always recommend surgery to remove it. Surgery is considered the primary option for breast cancer when it's possible to remove the affected tissue. (It's not an effective treatment option for metastatic breast cancer — the situation where the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body.
What are the different types of surgeries for breast cancer?
The surgery used to treat breast cancer are :
1. Mastectomy: Mastectomy is the most common surgery for breast cancer. Mastectomy treats both early-stage and late-stage breast cancers.
- Total mastectomy: Here the removal of the entire breast is done by the surgeon.
- Bilateral mastectomy: Here the removal of both breasts is done by the surgeon. It is necessary if the cancer has already spread to both breasts.
- Skin-sparing or nipple-sparing mastectomy: Here the surgeon removes all the breast tissue, but spares the skin.
- Modified radical mastectomy: Here the surgeon removes the breast tissue and the underarm lymph nodes.
- Radical mastectomy: Here the surgeon removes the breasts, underarm lymph nodes and chest muscles.
2. Lumpectomy: Lumpectomy, also known as breast-conserving surgery, where the surgeon removes only part of the breast tissue. This is an best option for treating earlier-stage breast cancer.
Types of lumpectomy procedures include:
- Excisional biopsy: It is a surgical procedure where the surgeon removes a tumour for biopsy.
- Wide local excision: It is a surgical procedure where the surgeon removes a cancerous tumour and a margin of tissue around it.
- Quadrantectomy: A segmental mastectomy which removes about a quarter of the breast, including the duct-lobular system. It is recommended when the tumour shows ductal spread.
- Re-excision lumpectomy: It is a surgical procedure which follows the original excision of the tumour.
What are the advantages of breast cancer surgery?
The main objective of any surgeon is to remove cancer at the earliest by breast cancer surgery. If left untreated it may cause death.
What are the risks or complications of breast cancer surgery?
The risk which is associated with breast cancer are:
- Wound infection
- Blood clots
- Seroma
- Lymphedema
- Nerve damage
- Hematoma
