tumours suitable for mastectomy

Last reviewed 01/2018

The tumours best treated with mastectomy include:

• patient preference:
• small tumours may be amenable to conservative treatment, but the patient may have a strong feeling that mastectomy will provide more peace of mind
• patient may prefer to avoid radiotherapy with its attendant complications
• size of tumour:
• tumours greater than 2-3cm in small breasts; generally, removal of masses greater than this size results in a cosmetic defect that is unacceptable
• in larger breasts, masses up to 4cm have been treated with breast conservation with little aesthetic deficit and what is believed to be little influence on prognosis
• those with clinical or radiographic evidence of more than one tumour:
• more prevalent with lobular carcinoma
• multifocal disease:
• presence of synchronous tumour within the the same quadrant
• increases with increasing primary tumour size
• widespread multifocal disease is probably best treated with mastectomy
• multicentric disease: presence of synchronous tumour outside of the same quadrant
• poor tumour differentiation
  
  
• centrally-located tumours:
• often difficult to excise by conservative measures without poor cosmesis due to loss of nipple
• many women prefer mastectomy to simple conservation if the nipple will be lost by both techniques