Mastectomy

A mastectomy is surgery to remove a breast. It is performed either to treat or to prevent breast cancer. Only high-risk patients have surgery to prevent cancer. There are four main types:

• Total mastectomy - removal of breast tissue and nipple
• Modified radical mastectomy - removal of the breast, most of the lymph nodes under the arm and often the lining over the chest muscles
• Lumpectomy - surgery to remove the tumor and a small amount of normal tissue around it
• Radical mastectomy - the removal of the breast, lymph nodes and chest muscles. This is no longer common which surgery you have depends on the stage of cancer, size of the tumor, size of the breast and whether the lymph nodes are involved. Many women have breast reconstruction to rebuild the breast after a mastectomy.

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source:http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mastectomy.html

Breast cancer

Definition of breast cancer: Cancer that forms in tissues of the breast. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which begins in the lining of the milk ducts (thin tubes that carry milk from the lobules of the breast to the nipple). Another type of breast cancer is lobular carcinoma, which begins in the lobules (milk glands) of the breast. Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from where it began in the breast ducts or lobules to surrounding normal tissue. Breast cancer occurs in both men and women, although male breast cancer is rare.

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source:http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast

The Facts on Fibrocystic Breast Disease

Fibrocystic breast disease, a condition causing breast pain, cysts, and noncancerous breast lumps, affects many women. It may also be called fibroglandular changes, fibrocystic changes, chronic cystic mastitis, mammary dysplasia, or benign breast disease. Fibrocystic breast disease is really not a disease, but rather a condition that commonly affects women between the ages of 25 and 50 years. It may involve finding one lump or several in both breasts.

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The vast majority (almost 85%) of breast lumps are not malignant (i.e., they are not cancerous). Nevertheless, some are, so if a woman notices a lump, she should have it examined by her doctor. Most women have some general lumpiness in their breasts, usually in the upper, outer area. This kind of lumpiness is quite common and does not mean that she has an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

Beyond the occasional discomfort, if a breast lump is not malignant, it's not considered harmful. Although early studies showed a higher risk of breast cancer in women with lumpy breasts, recent studies have shown that most types of fibrocystic changes are not associated with higher cancer risk.

source:http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_condition_info_details.aspdisease_id=245&channel_id=136&relation_id=1578