page_title: Mastectomy
section_title: Medical uses
hierarchical_section_title: Mastectomy / Medical uses
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of a transgender person assigned female at birth who has undergone a double lateral incision mastectomy.
context_page_description: Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, people believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation as a preventive measure. Alternatively, some people can choose to have a wide local excision, also known as a lumpectomy, an operation in which a small volume of breast tissue containing the tumor and a surrounding margin of healthy tissue is removed to conserve the breast.
  Both mastectomy and lumpectomy are referred to as "local therapies" for breast cancer, targeting the area of the tumor, as opposed to systemic therapies, such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy.
  Traditionally, in the case of breast cancer, the whole breast was removed. Currently, the decision to do the mastectomy is based on various factors, including breast size, the number of lesions, biologic aggressiveness of a breast cancer, the availability of adjuvant radiation, and the willingness of the patient to accept higher rates of tumor recurrences after lumpectomy and radiation.
context_section_description: Despite the increased ability to offer breast conservation techniques to patients with breast cancer, certain groups may be better served by traditional mastectomy procedures including:
  women who have already had radiation therapy to the affected breast
  women with 2 or more areas of cancer in the same breast that are too far apart to be removed through 1 surgical incision, while keeping the appearance of the breast satisfactory
  women whose initial lumpectomy along with (one or more) re-excisions has not completely removed the cancer
  women with certain serious connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma, which make them especially sensitive to the side effects of radiation therapy
  pregnant women who would require radiation while still pregnant (risking harm to the child)
  women with a tumor larger than 5  cm (2  inches) that doesn't shrink very much with neoadjuvant chemotherapy
  women with cancer that is large relative to their breast size
  women who have tested positive for a deleterious mutation on the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene and opt for a  preventive mastectomy since they are at high risk for the development of breast cancer.
  men with gynecomastia
  transgender individuals suffering from dysphoria will sometimes elect for mastectomy
caption: Transgender person with healed double lateral incision mastectomy
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