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Breast Cancer Treatment

If a breast lump is cancer tissue, the decision for treatment will be made by you and your health care provider. A surgeon or oncologist (cancer specialist) may also be asked for advice. Your treatment plan depends on:
  • your age
  • the stage of growth of the cancer
  • the type of cancer
  • whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of your body.

Possible surgical treatments are either a mastectomy (complete removal of the breast) or breast conserving therapy. The second option consists of taking the cancer tissue out of the breast and treating the remaining breast tissue with radiation. Women treated in this manner often have very good cosmetic results. Even if a mastectomy is needed (about 30-40% of patients need this), building a new breast, called reconstruction, offers a natural looking breast replacement.

You will also see a medical oncologist to help you decide if further treatment, such as chemotherapy and / or endocrine (anti-hormone) treatment is also needed to decrease the odds of having the cancer come back.

Learn more about the following treatment options:

Lumpectomy & Axillary Lymph Node Excision

Modified Radical Mastectomy (Breast Removal)

Breast Reconstruction - from the Department of Surgery's web site

You should ask your health care provider and/or surgeon about these choices. Take notes as you talk since there are many possible combinations of surgical treatment. Also, it is helpful to have a family member or friend listen to the choices with you.

Other treatments used with surgery are:

Chemotherapy and hormonal therapy are used, in addition to surgery and radiation therapy, when there is a chance that the tumor has spread to the rest of the body. Chemotherapy is sometimes used to reduce the tumor size before surgery.

Radiation therapy is a part of the treatment when breast-sparing surgery (lumpectomy) is done. Radiation therapy is used to prevent cancer from returning to the area where you had surgery. This information is available on the the Department of Radiation Oncology's web site.

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This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information is intended to inform and educate and is not a replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.


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University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

This site is part of the U-M Health System. The information presented is not a tool for self diagnosis or a substitute for professional care. © 2008 U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center