Library / English Dictionary

MASTECTOMY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Surgical removal of a breast to remove a malignant tumor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("mastectomy" is a kind of...):

ablation; cutting out; excision; extirpation (surgical removal of a body part or tissue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mastectomy"):

modified radical mastectomy (removal of a breast and the pectoralis minor and some lymph nodes in the adjacent armpit)

radical mastectomy (removal of a breast and the underlying muscles (pectoralis major and pectoralis minor) and lymph nodes in the adjacent armpit)

simple mastectomy (removal of a breast leaving the underlying muscles and the lymph nodes intact)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Types of breast-conserving surgery include lumpectomy (removal of the lump), quadrantectomy (removal of one quarter, or quadrant, of the breast), and segmental mastectomy (removal of the cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor).

(Breast-conserving surgery, NCI Dictionary)

Types of breast-sparing surgery include lumpectomy (removal of the lump), quadrantectomy (removal of one quarter, or quadrant, of the breast), and segmental mastectomy (removal of the cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor).

(Breast-sparing surgery, NCI Dictionary)

Types of breast-conserving surgery include lumpectomy (removal of the lump), quadrantectomy (removal of one quarter of the breast), and segmental mastectomy (removal of the cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor).

(Breast Conservation Treatment, NCI Dictionary)

If you need a mastectomy, you have a choice about whether or not to have surgery to rebuild the shape of the breast.

(Breast Reconstruction, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

Also called radical mastectomy.

(Halsted radical mastectomy, NCI Dictionary)

If you're thinking about breast reconstruction, talk to a plastic surgeon before the mastectomy, even if you plan to have your reconstruction later on.

(Breast Reconstruction, NIH: National Cancer Institute)