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Most women with breast cancer have some type of surgery as part of their treatment. Depending on the situation, surgery may be done for different reasons. For example, surgery may be done to:

Remove as much of the cancer as possible (breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy)



Find out whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm (sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection)



Restore the breast's shape after the cancer is removed (breast reconstruction)



Relieve symptoms of advanced cancerSurgery to remove breast cancer

There are two main types of surgery to remove breast cancer:

Breast-conserving surgery (also called a lumpectomy, quadrantectomy, partial mastectomy, or segmental mastectomy) - in which only the part of the breast containing the cancer is removed. The goal is to remove the cancer as well as some surrounding normal tissue. How much of the breast is removed depends on the size and location of the tumor and other factors. (See "http://www.cancer.org/ssLINK/breast-cancer-treating-breast-conserving-surgery