Male mastectomy

I believe that once we mention mastectomy, the first thing we think about is whether the breasts still exist after the mastectomy. Whether it is for men or women, the breasts are a complete part of the human body. Although it seems that the role of male breasts is not as big as that of female breasts, for normal men, breasts are still indispensable. So how is male mastectomy performed?

Breast cancer surgery can be roughly divided into two categories: breast-conserving and non-breast-conserving. Breast-conserving refers to the removal of breast tumors and part of the breast gland, but retaining the entire breast or most of the breast. The most commonly used non-breast-conserving surgery is the modified radical mastectomy, which is to remove the breast (skin, subcutaneous tissue, breast gland and nipple-areola complex), clear the axillary lymph nodes, and remove the pectoralis major fascia, but retain or partially retain the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles.

1. What do the often mentioned terms "breast removal" and "mastectomy" mean?

"Mastectomy" means removing all associated tissue, including the skin, subcutaneous tissue, mammary glands, and nipple-areola complex.

In the case of mastectomy, only the gland inside the breast can be removed, while the skin and nipple-areola complex are preserved. There are many ways to do this.

Angelina Jolie was found to have a defective gene that increased her risk of breast and ovarian cancer. To prevent this, she took the initiative to undergo a bilateral mastectomy, which preserved the nipple-areola complex, with a very small incision, and also had some fillers, which basically did not affect the appearance of the breasts.

At present, breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer only accounts for about 20% of all breast cancer patients in my country.

Of course, in reality, some patients still have concerns about breast-conserving surgery. The biggest reason preventing them from choosing breast-conserving surgery is the therapeutic effect of breast-conserving surgery.

Most patients also think that it would be safer to remove the entire breast, as a complete mastectomy is a "once and for all" solution, and they no longer have to worry about recurrence.

2. Which patients are suitable for breast-conserving surgery?

1. The tumor is smaller than 3 cm

If the tumor is too large, the area to be removed will inevitably increase accordingly. For Chinese women whose breasts are not very full, the effect of breast preservation cannot be achieved.

If the excision area is reduced, the tumor is often not completely removed and can easily cause breast cancer to recur. Generally, breast-conserving surgery is recommended only for women with breasts smaller than 3 cm and of a certain size.

2. The tumor should be located far away from the nipple and areola

It is generally not suitable to perform breast-conserving surgery behind the nipple and areola. At the same time, the tumor far away from the nipple and areola is more conducive to the perfect appearance of the breast after surgery.

3. No lymph node enlargement

Patients with large lumps, edema, or obvious enlargement of axillary lymph nodes are not suitable for breast-conserving surgery.

4. No multiple lesions

Patients with multiple lesions in the breast are not suitable for breast-conserving surgery.

Because in this case, even after breast-conserving surgery, there is no guarantee that there will be no tumor residue in the breast, so a breast MRI can be performed before surgery to understand the condition inside the breast.