Baptist Medical Group Breast Cancer Surgery

Learning you have breast cancer can be a frightening experience. Learning you need breast surgery can be even more alarming. Baptist Medical Group’s breast cancer surgeons are devoted to doing everything they can to deliver the best options and outcomes for patients. Why? Because they care about their patients. And they want to provide the best treatment possible.

What do Baptist Medical Group breast surgeons do?

Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer require some type of surgery to remove the cancerous tumor. Baptist Medical Group breast surgeons partner with oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists and other members of the diagnostic team to perform this part of the breast cancer treatment plan. Surgery may include a lumpectomy, partial mastectomy, mastectomy or stereotactic breast biopsy.

Many times, the breast can be reconstructed at the same time as the surgery or at a later date. Baptist Medical Group breast surgeons may also check the lymph nodes under the arm during surgery for possible cancer spread.

Types of Breast Cancer Surgeries

Baptist Medical Group breast surgeons perform four main types of breast cancer surgeries. These include:

• lumpectomy. This surgery removes only the cancerous tumor and a small portion of surrounding normal tissue. After a lumpectomy, patients may undergo radiation, chemotherapy or both as a part of their overall cancer treatment plan.
• partial mastectomy. Sometimes called a segmental mastectomy, this surgery removes the cancerous tumor and more of the surrounding tissue than a lumpectomy. Surgeons remove up to one-quarter of the breast.
• mastectomy. When a mastectomy is performed, the entire breast is removed. This includes the cancerous tumor and all of the breast tissue. When both breasts are removed, it is called a double mastectomy.
• skin-sparing mastectomy. For patients who are having breast reconstruction surgery right away, a skin-sparing mastectomy removes the tumor, breast tissue, nipple and areola, but skin over the breast is left intact.
• stereotactic breast biopsy. This procedure involves the removal of breast tissue to examine for signs of breast cancer. It involves a small cut over the area that needs to be biopsied, or have tissue samples taken. The stereotactic breast biopsy is usually performed prior to a breast cancer diagnosis.