Breast surgery

Breast surgery is usually the principal and primary treatment of malignant diseases of the breast. It may now sometimes follow neo-adjuvant therapies, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, but, for most patients with breast cancer, their disease pathway will include some form of surgery for either diagnostic evaluation, local control of the disease, prophylactic or risk-reducing reasons, or reconstructive rehabilitation. Nevertheless, this treatment modality, whilst contributing to increasing survival and other improved outcomes, is not without some physical and psychosocial morbidity. This chapter presents an overview of breast surgery, related primarily to cancer, and describes the clinical context of this modality in modern cancer care and some of the key considerations of caring for patients requiring and receiving this form of treatment.