| Once a doctor determines that a breast tumor | | | | doctors are likely to say the choice is yours. |
| must be removed, one of the first decisions the | | | | There are two breast-conserving options: |
| person you're caring for will have to make -- with | | | | lumpectomy or partial mastectomy. |
| the help of her medical team -- is how much | | | | In a lumpectomy, the surgeon removes only the |
| breast tissue to remove. In some cases, doctors | | | | breast tumor and a small margin of surrounding |
| will recommend removing the entire breast, | | | | tissue. The goal is to make sure the tumor comes |
| known as a mastectomy. | | | | out with "clean margins," which means that the |
| But women with early-stage tumors that haven't | | | | biopsied tissue shows no cancer calls remaining. (If |
| spread may choose breast-conserving surgery. | | | | the pathology report does not show clean |
| Research shows that for stage I and II tumors, | | | | margins, a re-excision or mastectomy may be |
| the long-term outcome from lumpectomy plus | | | | necessary. |
| radiation or from mastectomy is the same, so | | | | |