Surgery is often the first type of breast cancer treatment, although in some situations you may be recommended to have other types of treatments first, like Neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There are two fundamental approaches to breast cancer surgery that your surgeon will discuss with you. Both ways are equally effective in treating the cancer.

The most common approach is breast conserving surgery (BCS) which aims to remove only the cancer affected area in the breast and the remainder of the breast is then treated with radiotherapy. Breast conserving surgery now days is often combined with one of the newer oncoplastic techniques. The other approach is to remove the whole breast surgically, so called mastectomy. Your surgeon will discuss with you the various reconstruction options you may wish to consider. Most patients will not need radiotherapy after a mastectomy, however in some circumstances the MDT team may recommend radiotherapy even after a mastectomy. Your surgeon will explain the reasons behind this decision.