A simple or total mastectomy is the surgical removal of one or both breasts in a woman , usually after a patient has been diagnosed with breast cancer. In recent years, this radical surgery is practiced less and less, since doctors opt for conservative surgery, in which only part of the breast is removed. However, it is sometimes carried out to prevent cancer, when the probability of developing it (due to genetics) is high. Other women opt for a nipple-sparing mastectomy , which leaves most of the skin on the breast, nipple, and areola intact, making it easier for the reconstructed breast to look more natural.
As for radical mastectomy , it is a major operation in which the surgeon removes the entire breast, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, and the muscles in the chest wall below the breast.
