Breast cancer surgery is needed for both cosmetic purposes and more serious life threatening medical conditions. At CMCS Health , we are associated with best Indian breast cancer surgeons for breast cancer surgery in India.

Breast cancers are one of the most common cancers among women and treatments of breast cancer involves breast cancer surgery , Chemotherapy , Radiation therapy , Targeted drug therapy and hormone therapy. Surgery is the mainstay of breast cancer treatments.

Breast cancer surgery in India :

Surgery is the mainstay of breast cancer treatments . Breast cancer surgery can be combined with radiation therapy , chemotherapy , targeted therapy hormone therapy , and immunotherapy.

There are two main types of surgery performed for breast cancer treatment .

1. Mastectomy :

Mastectomy surgery for breast cancer treatment involves removal of complete breast.

Mastectomy surgery can be further classified as:

Radical mastectomy :

Radical mastectomy involves removal of breast tissue, nipple, areola and skin but not all the lymph nodes and the pectoral (chest wall) muscles under the breast.

It is performed rarely now and only if the surgeons feel that cancer has grown or may grow into pectoral muscles.

Modified Radical mastectomy ( MRM)

Modified radical mastectomy involves removal of breast tissues , nipple , areola , skin and all the lymph nodes under the arm ( axillary lymph nodes dissection ) .

Skin or Nipple sparing mastectomy :

The skin or nipple sparing breast cancer surgery is a variation of the total mastectomy and is normally performed to allow the surgeon to perform breast reconstruction. The surgery removes the same amount of breast tissue. The difference is that the surgeon leaves the breast skin (skin-sparing) and sometimes the nipple (nipple-sparing).

Breast reconstruction can be done at the same time of mastectomy or later.

Double mastectomy :

When both the breasts are removed , it is called double mastectomy or bi lateral mastectomy.

2. Breast conservation surgery :

Not all breast cancers require complete removal of breast , if the size of tumor is not too big and it is localized , doctor may perform a surgery with removal of tumor and safe margins along the breast tissues. Breast conservation surgery are also called lumpectomy. It is usually followed by radiation therapy , chemotherapy or hormone therapy.

Sometime chemotherapy is given to patient before the surgery to reduces the size of tumor , it is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Breast oncoplasty or breast reconstruction surgery :

When lumpectomy or breast conservation surgery is done for a patient, many times it leaves a bad scar or disfigurement in a patient.

Breast reconstruction or breast oncoplasty surgery is combination of breast cancer surgery with cosmetics or plastic surgery to hide the scar or restore the form of breast.

Breast reconstruction or breast oncoplasty surgery can be done at the same time of lumpectomy or afterwards.

Dr Deepka Jha is senior consultant and clinical lead for breast cancer surgery at Artemis hospital.