Conditions Treated
Depending on the woman’s diagnosis, Breast Health Center surgeons at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center perform the following procedures:
- Lumpectomy or Partial Mastectomy
A procedure in which the tumor and a small amount of surrounding normal tissue are removed.
- Total Mastectomy
Surgeons remove the entire cancerous breast, plus the pectoral fascia (fibrous covering of the chest-wall muscle). A sampling of lymph nodes under the arm are also removed for biopsy
- Modified Radical Mastectomy
The entire breast, most or all of the lymph nodes under the arm, and the lining over the chest muscles is removed. This procedure may also involve removal of part of the chest-wall muscle.
- Breast Reconstruction
Reconstruction rebuilds and restores the breast’s shape after a mastectomy, either at the time of surgery or during another operation.
- Breast-sparing Surgery
Advances in breast cancer surgery have resulted in new techniques that leave women with a more positive body image.
In approximately 80 percent of cases, specialists are able to eradicate the cancer without removing the entire breast. During partial mastectomies, oncoplastic techniques—a combination of cancer surgery and plastic surgery— are used for an aesthetically pleasing result. The surgeon removes the tumor along with a margin of healthy tissue, and then remolds the breast resulting in a natural physical appearance.
Skin-sparing mastectomy may be possible if the entire breast needs to be removed. During the procedure, surgeons remove the cancer and almost all of the breast tissue, but leave as much skin as possible. The breast is reconstructed using the patient’s own tissue (usually from the abdomen, but sometimes from the back or buttocks) or tissue expanders followed by implants.
