Breast Cancer Surgery Facts

In many cases, breast cancer often spreads to the nearby axillary lymph nodes that are found around the underarms. During the surgery to remove cancer from the breasts, your surgeon may remove and examine one or more of these lymph nodes from beneath your armpits in order to determine whether or not they have been affected by cancer. This is necessary for figuring out exactly how far the extent of the cancer is.

There are certain advantages of getting a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy, the most prominent one is that the patient is able to retain most of her breast. But on the downside, she will also require radiation therapy to completely rid herself off the cancer. However, the patient can avoid going for radiation treatment if the cancer is in its very early stages.

There are certain cases when breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body and requires surgical treatment for recovery. Though surgery is very unlikely to cure breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, it can still be helpful in some situations, either as a way to slow the spread of the cancer, or to help prevent or relieve symptoms from it. If your doctor recommends surgery for advanced breast cancer, it s important that you understand its goal whether it s to try to cure the cancer or to prevent or treat symptoms.

Even though breast cancer during pregnancy is a very rare phenomenon, it should be treated with greatest urgency. Breast cancer surgery during pregnancy is safe and should be opted for as soon as it is detected. However, follow-up procedures such as radiation therapy or hormone therapy can cause harm to the foetus during pregnancy, especially during the first few months, and must be avoided for the health and wellbeing of the growing baby.