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Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely.A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. [1] [2] In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have the operation as a preventive measure. [1]
Undergoing a preventive mastectomy does not guarantee that breast cancer will not develop later, however, it reduces the risk by 90% in high risk women. [2] [8] Also, a preventive mastectomy may not be able to remove all breast tissue as some of it may be in the arm pit, near the collar bone, or in the abdominal wall. [1]
Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure that treats breast cancer by removing the breast and its underlying chest muscle (including pectoralis major and pectoralis minor), and lymph nodes of the axilla (armpit). Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women.
Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM), also known as nipple delay, is one of the surgical approaches for treating or preventing breast cancer. It involves the removal of all breast tissue, except the nipple-areolar complex (NAC), and the creation of new circulatory connections from the breast skin to NAC. [ 1 ]
Lumpectomy (sometimes known as a tylectomy, partial mastectomy, breast segmental resection or breast wide local excision) is a surgical removal of a discrete portion or "lump" of breast tissue, usually in the treatment of a malignant tumor or breast cancer. [1]
Staging breast cancer is the initial step to help physicians determine the most appropriate course of treatment. As of 2016, guidelines incorporated biologic factors, such as tumor grade, cellular proliferation rate, estrogen and progesterone receptor expression, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) expression, and gene expression profiling into the staging system.
Furthermore, if a breast has already undergone irradiation (as in radiation therapy for treating breast cancer), there is a heightened risk of complications (e.g. reactive inflammation, occurrence of a chronic draining wound, etc.) for breast biopsies or other interventions to the breast, even those often considered "minor" surgeries. [4]
Prophylactic mastectomy is the surgical removal of breast tissue to remove cells that are at risk of developing cancer. These are most commonly done in women whom have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations discovered from gene testing, have already had cancer in one breast, have a family history of breast cancer or have undergone radiation therapy to their ...