Mastectomy

Mastectomy is a surgery to remove the breast. They may remove one breast or both breasts. They may remove some of the breast, or all of it.

Mastectomy patient

Mastectomy is often done for people with breast cancer. Both men and women can get this cancer. Both men and women can need a mastectomy. Some people with a high risk of breast cancer have the operation before the cancer starts.

If they find a tumor in the breast, they may only remove part of the breast around the tumor. Then the person might also take drugs (chemotherapy) to stop the cancer. They might also have a machine send energy (radiation) into the breast. Sometimes this can stop the cancer.

Transgender men also get this surgery to reassign their sex.

Other websites

• Types of Mastectomy Archived 2006-02-12 at the Wayback Machine at mrbra.com
• Advice for Men with Breast Cancer at National Cancer Institute
• Mastectomy study at BBC
• Mastectomy summary Archived 2008-05-18 at the Wayback Machine at breastcancer.org
• Mastectomy article at eMedicine
• Mastectomy And The Swimwear Industry (Article)