Breast Cancer Surgery Postoperative Examples

Photos are obtained with written permission from patients of Drs. Henderson and Kollmorgen.

Aesthetic outcomes following breast cancer surgery is determined by:

• Location of the lesion
• Size of the lesion
• Patient preoperative breast cup size
• Patient’s choice of surgery
• Surgeon’s experience
• Use of advanced oncoplastic surgical technique in partial mastectomy (Breast glandular tissue transfer flap rearrangement to minimize the partial mastectomy defect)

PARTIAL MASTECTOMY (LUMPECTOMY)

Example No. 1 – Cup Size “A” Hidden Incision Surgery

Surgery performed: oncoplastic right partial mastectomy (lumpectomy); right sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Cancer type: invasive ductal carcinoma
Location of tumor: right breast at 6 – 7 o’clock
Size of tumor: 0.4 inches
Size of tissue removed: 2.4 inches x 1.5 inches x 0.7 inches

Photos taken 12 days after surgery.

Example No. 2 – Cup Size “B” Hidden Incision Surgery

Surgery performed: oncoplastic right partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) with right sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: ductal carcinoma in situ
Location of tumor: right breast at 9 o’clock
Size of tumor: 1.2 inches
Size of tissue removed: 2 inches x 2 inches x 1.5 inches

Photos taken 14 days after surgery.

Example No. 3 – Cup Size “B” Breast Surgery

Surgery performed: Oncoplastic left partial mastectomy (lumpectomy); left sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: invasive lobular carcinoma
Location of tumor: left breast at 11 o’clock
Size of tumor: 0.5 inches
Size of tissue removed: 2.4 inches x 2.2 inches x 1.2 inches

Photos taken 27 days after surgery.

Example No. 4 – Cup Size “C” Hidden Incision Surgery

Surgery performed: Oncoplastic left segmental (partial) mastectomy (lumpectomy); left sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: invasive ductal carcinoma
Location of tumor: left breast at 6 o’clock
Size of tumors: 0.8 inches
Size of tissue removed: 2.4 inches x 1.8 inches x 1.0 inches

Photos taken 11 months after surgery, following radiation therapy.

Photos taken three years after surgery.

Example No. 5 – Cup Size “D” Hidden Incision Surgery

First surgery performed: oncoplastic right breast partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) with round block technique
Second surgery performed (for narrow margin): re-excision of superficial margin

Cancer type: right breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), high-grade
Location of tumor: right breast at 11 o’clock
Size of tumor: 0.4 inches
Size of tissue removed (first surgery): 3.7 inches x 2.6 inches x 1.1 inches
Size of tissue removed (second surgery): 3.3 inches x 0.9 inches x 0.7 inches

Photos taken two weeks after surgery.

Example No. 6 – Cup Size “D” Hidden Incision Surgery

Surgery performed: oncoplastic left partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) with left sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: invasive ductal carcinoma
Location of tumor: left breast at 12 o’clock
Size of tumor: 1.5 inches
Size of tissue removed: 2.5 inches x 2 inches x 1.8 inches

Photos taken 10 days after surgery.

Example No. 7 – Cup Size “E” Breast Surgery

Surgery performed: oncoplastic right breast partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) using inverted T reduction mammoplasty mastopexy closure; right sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: invasive ductal carcinoma with positive axillary lymph node at initial diagnosis
Location of tumor: right breast at 6 o’clock
Size of tumor: 0.6 inches
Size of tissue removed: 5.3 inches x 2.6 inches x 2 inches

Patient had neoadjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy prior to surgery), followed by surgery and radiation therapy. Patient will have left breast reduction for symmetry.

Photos taken nine months after surgery, following radiation therapy.

Example No. 8 – Bilateral Breast Cancer

Surgery performed: oncoplastic right breast partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) and left breast central lumpectomy and bilateral sentinel lymph node biopsy

Cancer type: right invasive ductal carcinoma and left invasive lobular carcinoma
Location of tumor: right breast at 4 o’clock and left breast retroareolar involving nipple areolar complex

Photos taken nine months after surgery, following radiation therapy.

MASTECTOMY

Example No. 1 – Mastectomy Without Reconstruction

Surgery performed: left simple mastectomy without reconstruction

Cancer type: multifocal left invasive ductal carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ
Location of tumor: multiple locations
Size of tumor: large area

Photos taken 10 months after surgery.

Example No. 2 – Mastectomy Without Reconstruction

Surgery performed: left simple mastectomy without reconstruction

Cancer type: multifocal left invasive ductal carcinoma
Location of tumor: multiple locations
Size of tumor: large area

Photos taken one year after surgery.

Example No. 4 – Bilateral Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy

Surgery performed: bilateral nipple-sparing mastectomy and left sentinel lymph node biopsy, using lateral incision with tissue expander reconstruction and second surgery for bilateral breast implant placement

Cancer type: multifocal left breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Location of tumor: retroareolar tumor involving a large quadrant of left breast
Size of tumor: large area

Photos taken 12 months after surgery.

Example No. 5 – Prophylactic Bilateral Nipple Sparing Mastectomy with Immediate Implant Reconstruction

Surgery performed: prophylactic bilateral nipple sparing mastectomy with immediate implant reconstruction using lateral inframammary incisions

Patient with BRCA mutation

Cancer type: none

Photos taken four weeks after surgery.