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Breast Cancer Treatment

Surgery: Lumpectomy

Recently, many patients have been opting for breast conservation surgery, rather than traditional mastectomy surgery. Up to two thirds of women diagnosed with invasive tumors are electing to have their breast preserved with lumpectomy and radiation therapy in many top breast cancer centers throughout the country.

A lumpectomy refers to the removal of the tumor in the breast with a rim of normal breast tissue called a clear margin. All cancer operations aim to have a clear margin, therefore some normal tissue must be removed all around the tumor.

The surgeon will remove the cancer by making a one to three inch incision on the breast and surgically removing the tumor with a margin of normal breast tissue.

The lumpectomy is then followed by post-operative radiation therapy to the breast. The recurrence rate after breast conservation therapy is roughly 4% to 20% at eight to ten years. If the cancer does return, you will require a mastectomy at that time. Results from large research trials performed many years ago found that the chances of cure are the same whether a woman has a mastectomy or breast conservation therapy.

What are the side effects of a lumpectomy?

• Infection of the surgical area
• Accumulation of blood in the surgical area (hematoma)

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