MALIGNANT BREAST CONDITIONS

The most common malignant conditions are broken down into in-situ and invasive disease. Routine treatment will include excision of lesion and management of the axilla. Surgical options are breast conserving surgery wide (lumpectomy / wide local excision / therapeutic mammoplasty) or mastectomy. Surgery of the axilla includes sentinel node biopsy and axillary clearance. Reconstruction will be discussed with all patients undergoing mastectomy. Which operation is performed will be an individual decision based on many factors including:

• Patient preference
• Tumour size
• Tumour location
• Breast size
• Medical co-morbidities

This is often complemented with a combination of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and / or hormonal therapy. The order of treatment is individualised for each patient.