Breast cancer surgery

Surgery treatment

Treatment for breast cancer depends on the size and type of breast cancer you have, where it is, if it has spread to other parts of the body and also your general health. Surgery is usually the main treatment for breast cancer. The type of surgery depends on how big the cancer is and if it has spread. Your surgeon will talk to you about having one of these operations:

Breast-conserving surgery – this involves removing the cancer and some surrounding normal breast tissue
A mastectomy – this involves removing all the breast tissue and sometimes the nipple on the affected side

Most men only have a small amount of breast tissue. This means they can usually only have a mastectomy. You will usually need some or all the lymph nodes in your armpit removed. This is done in both breast conversing surgery and a mastectomy. You may want to have a new breast shape made during the operation. This is called breast reconstruction. You can choose to have it done at a later time.