Treating
breast cancer with surgery
Breast-sparing
surgery: An operation to remove the cancer but not
the breast is breast-sparing surgery. It is also called
breast-conserving surgery, lumpectomy, segmental mastectomy,
and partial mastectomy.
Sometimes
an excisional biopsy serves as a lumpectomy because
the surgeon removes the whole lump.
The surgeon
often removes the underarm lymph nodes as well. A
separate incision is made. This procedure is called
an axillary lymph node dissection. It shows whether
cancer cells have entered the lymphatic system.
After
breast-sparing surgery, most women receive radiation
therapy to the breast. This treatment destroys cancer
cells that may remain in the breast
Mastectomy:
An operation to remove the breast (or as much of the
breast tissue as possible) is a mastectomy. In most
cases, the surgeon also removes lymph nodes under
the arm. Some women have radiation therapy after surgery.
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