Surgical treatment procedures for breast cancer

Surgery is one of the main treatments for breast cancer. There are many surgical procedures, including radical mastectomy, extended radical mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, simple mastectomy, and less than total mastectomy.

1. Radical mastectomy: Radical mastectomy mainly includes removal of the entire primary lesion and regional lymph nodes, removal of the entire breast and pectoralis major and minor muscles, and removal of the entire axillary lymph nodes.

2. Extended radical mastectomy for breast cancer: Extended radical mastectomy for breast cancer is to remove the internal mammary lymph nodes on the basis of radical mastectomy, that is, to remove the 1-4 intercostal lymph nodes, and generally require the removal of the second, third, and fourth costal cartilages.

3. Modified radical mastectomy: Modified radical mastectomy is currently more commonly used, mainly for patients with non-invasive cancer, stage I invasive cancer, and stage II clinically without obvious axillary lymph node enlargement. There are two surgical procedures: Type I: retain the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles. Type II retains the pectoralis major muscle and removes the pectoralis minor muscle.

4. Simple mastectomy: Simple mastectomy is currently commonly used for patients with local advanced breast cancer, and radiotherapy is often required after surgery. Young and middle-aged patients with early breast cancer still need complex breast reconstruction after mastectomy, which is currently less used.

5. Less than total mastectomy: Less than total mastectomy refers to local excision up to 1/4 of the breast removal, and radiotherapy is often required after the operation.

Tips: Regardless of the surgical procedure chosen by breast cancer patients, they must strictly adhere to the principle of radical cure as the main approach and preservation of function and appearance as the secondary approach.