Breast Surgery
Most breast cancer patients undergo some type of surgery along with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy.
Your breast health care team will help you decide which type of surgery is right for your situation. Below are the most common types of breast surgery.
Lumpectomy
During a lumpectomy, the tumor and surrounding tissue are removed saving most of the breast. Some lymph nodes are usually removed.
Mastectomy
A mastectomy procedure removes the entire breast and usually some of the lymph nodes.
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
To find out if there is breast cancer in the lymph nodes without removing all of them, a sentinel lymph node biopsy is performed. A dye will be injected into the breast to find the sentinel nodes. The surgeon removes the nodes containing the dye and has a pathologist check them for cancerous cells.
Axillary Lymph Node Dissection
During this procedure, all of the axillary lymph nodes are removed.