Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
A full mastectomy, in which the entire affected breast is removed, is one alternative to quadrantectomy. A simple mastectomy removes the entire breast, while a radical mastectomy removes the entire breast plus parts of the chest muscle wall...
and the lymph nodes. In terms of recurrence and survival rates, breast-conserving surgery has been shown to be equally effective as mastectomy in treating breast cancer.
A new technique that may eliminate the need for removing many axillary lymph nodes is called sentinel node biopsy. When lymph fluid moves out of a region, the "sentinel" lymph node is the first node it reaches. The theory behind sentinel lymph node biopsy is that if cancer is not present in the sentinel node, it is unlikely to have spread to other nearby nodes. This procedure may allow individuals with early stage cancers to avoid the complications associated with partial or radical removal of lymph nodes if there is little or no chance that cancer has spread to them.
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Definition
Quadrantectomy is a surgical procedure in which a "quadrant" (approximately one-fourth) of the breast, including tissue surrounding a cancerous tumor, is removed. It is also called a partial or segmental mastectomy.
Purpose
Quadrantectomy is a type of breast-conserving surgery used as a treatment for breast cancer. Prior to the advent of breast-conserving surgeries, total mastectomy (complete removal of the breast) was considered the standard surgical treatment for breast cancer. Procedures such as quadrantectomy and lumpectomy (removing the tissue directly surrounding the tumor) have allowed doctors to treat cancer without sacrificing the entire affected breast.
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