These are very difficult decisions. It is the responsibility of the medical profession to provide her with the best information possible to help her make her decisions. But, the woman herself should be the one to decide. A woman must weigh what is important to her as a person. She must carefully consider all the advantages and all disadvantages, what they mean to her, her life, and her lifestyle.
Mastectomy is removal of the entire breast.
Here we will use lumpectomy to refer to all surgeries that remove something less than the entire breast. There are advantages and disadvantages to both lumpectomy and mastectomy. What is most important, though, is that both are equally effective in curing a non-aggressive breast cancer. Neither cures an aggressive cancer where some cells have spread to other body organs. Lumpectomy is also not always a choice, especially if the cancer is under the nipple, if it has invaded the rib area or if there is more than one area of cancer in the breast.