Surgery to remove breast cancer
Most women with breast cancer undergo some type of surgery.
Surgery is used to remove as much of the tumor as possible from the breast.
Surgeries are usually followed by radiation therapy.
Surgeries called
mastectomies remove all of the breast tissue. Modified
radical mastectomies remove the lymph nodes under the arms as well.
The modified radical mastectomy is the most common type of surgery for women who
are having an entire breast removed.
In a breast cancer surgery called a
radical mastectomy, the breast tissue is removed along with the lymph nodes
under the arm and the chest wall muscles under the breast. This type of surgery
is used to treat a cancer that has spread to the muscle.
Sometimes, other surgeries are required to examine the lymph nodes under the arm
(axillary lymph node dissection), look at some of the lymph nodes without removing
them (sentinel lymph node biopsy), or to reconstruct the breast.
Find out about radiation therapy for breast cancer