Breast Conserving Surgery

Mastectomy or Breast Conserving Surgery is a surgical procedure performed to treat breast cancer by removing all the breast tissues from the breast. If the cancer cells have spread to a large area in the breast, then mastectomy is done. However, if the cancer cells have affected a small portion in the breast, then another surgical procedure known as lumpectomy is performed. Lumpectomy is known as breast-conserving surgery, wide local excision or partial mastectomy. In this surgery, only a small portion of the affected breast is removed. Both the surgical procedures are effective in preventing the return of cancer cells (recurrence). However, lumpectomy cannot be preferred in all cases as it is useful in cases where the cancer cells have not spread to a large area in the breast. Mastectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the breast entirely, however, with the new technologies in mastectomy, breast skin can be preserved, thereby conserving the aesthetics or appearance of the breast. This new technique is known as a skin-sparing mastectomy. There is another technique known as breast reconstruction, which is done either along with or after the mastectomy surgery. The breast reconstruction is used to restore the breast shape, which helps in conserving the appearance of the breast.

Mastectomy procedure is of two types- unilateral mastectomy (one breast removed) and bilateral mastectomy (both the breasts removed). The selection of the procedure depends on the level of spread of cancer cells.

Mastectomy is useful in treating various types of breast cancer like:

• Paget’s breast disease
• Inflammatory breast cancer after chemotherapy
• Locally recurrent breast cancer
• Noninvasive breast cancer, or ductal carcinoma in situ.
• Breast cancer (early stage) stage I and II.
• Breast cancer (locally advanced) stage III, after chemotherapy.

How long is recovery after mastectomy?

A mastectomy is an operation to remove a breast. It's used to treat breast cancer in women and breast cancer in men. The operation takes about 90 minutes, and most people go home the following day. It can take 4 to 6 weeks to recover from a mastectomy.

Does breast cancer come back after mastectomy?

Even though the entire breast is removed in a mastectomy, breast cancer can still return to the chest area. If you notice any changes around the mastectomy scar, tell your health care provider. The more lymph nodes with cancer at the time of the mastectomy, the higher the chances of breast cancer recurrence.