Most breast cancers will be treated with surgery to remove the tumour. All, or part, of the breast tissue may be removed. If the whole breast is removed, breast reconstruction may be carried out, either at the same time as the initial surgery or later. Sometimes chemotherapy or hormonal therapy may be given to shrink a cancer before surgery. This is known as neoadjuvant therapy.

After surgery, radiotherapy may be given to the breast tissue, to make sure any cancer cells that may be left in the area are destroyed. After surgery, the doctors can tell the stage and the grade of the cancer, and they can look at several other factors to predict how likely the cancer is to come back or spread.

If the chance of the cancer spreading or coming back is very low, further treatment is not necessary. However, most women will be advised to have treatment with chemotherapy or hormonal therapy to reduce the chance of the cancer coming back. This is known as adjuvant therapy.