For many years, this operation was considered the standard one for women with breast cancer, but it is very rarely used today and only in cases of advanced cancer in which the cancer has spread to the chest muscles. Women considering reconstruction should discuss this with a plastic surgeon before having a mastectomy. Some women receive both kinds of radiation therapy. For external radiation therapy, patients go to the hospital or clinic each day. When this therapy follows breast-sparing surgery, the treatments are given 5 days a week for 5 to 6 weeks.
Patients stay in the hospital for a short time for implant radiation.
Radiation therapy, alone or with chemotherapy or hormone therapy, is sometimes used before surgery to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors. This approach is most often used in cases in which the breast tumor is large or not easily removed by surgery. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy for breast cancer is usually a combination of drugs. The drugs may be given by mouth or by injection.