Breast Cancer Surgery

Breast-conserving Surgery

An operation to remove the cancer but not the whole breast. Patients who are treated with breast-conserving surgery may also have some of the lymph nodes under the arm removed for biopsy. This procedure is called lymph node dissection.

Figure caption. Dotted lines show area containing the tumor that is removed and some of the lymph nodes that may be removed.

Total Mastectomy

A surgical procedure to remove the whole breast that contains cancer. This procedure is also called a simple mastectomy. Some of the lymph nodes under the arm may be removed for biopsy at the same time as the breast surgery or after. This is done through a separate incision.

Figure caption. Dotted line shows entire breast is removed. Some lymph nodes under the arm may also be removed.

Modified Radical Mastectomy

A surgical procedure to remove the whole breast that contains cancer, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, the lining over the chest muscles, and sometimes, part of the chest wall muscles.

Radical mastectomy

A surgical procedure to remove the breast that contains cancer, chest wall muscles under the breast, and all of the lymph nodes under the arm. This procedure is sometimes called a Halsted radical mastectomy.

Figure caption. Dotted line shows entire breast and some lymph nodes are removed. Part of the chest wall muscle may also be removed.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Followed By Surgery

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the removal of the sentinel lymph node (the first lymph node the cancer is likely to spread to from the tumor) during surgery. A radioactive substance and/or blue dye is injected near the tumor. The substance or dye flows through the lymph ducts to the lymph nodes. The first lymph node to receive the substance or dye is removed for biopsy. A pathologist views the tissue under a microscope to look for cancer cells. If cancer cells are not found, it may not be necessary to remove more lymph nodes. After the sentinel lymph node biopsy, the surgeon removes the tumor (breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy).


Figure caption. Radioactive substance and/or blue dye is injected near the tumor (first panel), the injected material is followed visually or with a probe (middle panel), and the first lymph nodes to take up the material are removed and checked for cancer cells (last panel).

Reference:

National Cancer Institute, USA.