Wednesday, October 22, 2008

31 Days, 31 Things You Didn't Know About Breast Cancer

The main goal of breast cancer surgery is to completely remove the cancer from the breast. There are two basic types of surgery for breast cancer: lumpectomy (AKA breast conserving surgery) and mastectomy.

In a lumpectomy, the surgeon removes the breast tumor and some normal tissue around it. In a mastectomy, the surgeon removes the entire breast and may also remove some of the lymph nodes from the armpit. The other difference is that women almost always have radiation therapy after the lumpectomy, but not usually after the mastectomy.

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