Malignant breast tumor surgery

Breast surgery

Breast carcinoma is the most common malignant type of tumor found in women. It can originate from ductal epithelium (90% of cases) or lobular epithelium (10% of cases). The most affected age group is between 45 and 70 years. Risk factors for breast cancer are: a family history of breast cancer, early menarche (before age 12), late menopause (after age 50), nulliparity or late first birth (after age 30 or 35), no breastfeeding or breastfeeding for only a period of several months, long-term hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms, and the existence of precancerous breast changes (atypical ductal or lobular hyperplasia).

In the case of operable carcinomas, surgical management of breast cancer is the treatment of choice. It comprises either radical surgery (modified radical mastectomy and simple mastectomy) or tissue-sparing surgery (quadrantectomy, skin-sparing mastectomy, skin-and-nipple sparing mastectomy). Determination of regional lymph node status is a mandatory part of the surgical treatment of breast cancer since it affects the prognosis as well as the choice of the following systemic oncological management. If the involvement of lymph nodes cannot be confirmed by preoperative diagnostic procedures, sentinel node biopsy is performed during the surgery itself. If the sentinel node proves to be positive, levels 1 and 2 of the axillary lymph nodes are routinely removed, just like in the case when lymph node involvement is determined preoperatively. The type of surgical management of breast cancer depends on tumor size, regional lymph node involvement, tumor site, breast size, multicentricity of the cancer, and patient age. Skin or skin-and-nipple sparing mastectomy requires primary reconstruction of the breast by means of a silicone implant or with autologous tissue.

All the above surgical procedures are performed under general anesthesia, and the recovery period, depending on the type of surgery, varies between 7 and 20 days.