Mastectomy
A general term for removal of the breast, usually to remove cancerous tissue. The operation can be done in a hospital or in an outpatient clinic, depending on how extensive it needs to be. After a mastectomy, reconstructive surgery may be performed to restore a more normal appearance. In cases of nonmetastatic breast cancer, a lumpectomy’with radiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of these treatments’is sometimes performed as an alternative to mastectomy.
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- Mastectomy, modified radical
Removal of the breast tissue and the axillary lymph nodes, which are under the arms.
- Mastectomy, preventative
Removal of one or both breasts without the current presence of cancer. This surgery is sometimes chosen as a preventative measure by women who have a strong history of familial breast cancer. Also known as a prophylactic mastectomy.
- Mastectomy, prophylactic
Removal of one or both breasts without the current presence of cancer. This surgery is sometimes chosen as a preventative measure by women who have a strong history of familial breast cancer. Also called a preventative mastectomy.
- Mastectomy, radical
Removal of all breast tissue, from just under the collarbone to the abdomen, including the chest wall muscles and the axillary lymph nodes in the armpit. In a trial begun in 1971, the efficacy of radical mastectomy was compared with that of total mastectomy. This historic trial spelled the end of radical mastectomy and started […]
- Mastectomy, simple
Removal of one or both breasts, but not the lymph nodes. Also known as a total ‘mastectomy.