mastectomy

noun

mas·​tec·​to·​my ma-ˈstek-tə-mē 

plural mastectomies

: surgical removal of all or part of the breast and sometimes associated lymph nodes and muscles

Did you know?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. Early cases can often be treated with drugs or with a small operation called a lumpectomy (because it removes a lump). Though a "simple mastectomy" is larger than a lumpectomy, it allows the breast to be reconstructed, using artificial implants or tissue from elsewhere on the body. But "radical mastectomy", which is required when the cancer is at an advanced stage, takes much of the chest muscle and makes reconstruction impossible.

Examples of mastectomy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Specifically, sobriety, exercise, and her recent preventative mastectomy after a test revealed a gene mutation called RAD51D, which raised her chances for breast cancer from 20 to 40 percent. —Marissa R. Moss, Rolling Stone, 21 June 2024

Her medical team advised her to undergo a double mastectomy, a surgical procedure which removes both breasts, during which doctors found a small section of ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer. —Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 17 Apr. 2024

Last summer, the former royal had a single mastectomy at King Edward VII’s Hospital — a private clinic used by the late Queen Elizabeth II and other royal family members. —Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 22 Jan. 2024

On Monday, June 10, the actress, 43, attended her first big public event since revealing in March that she'd been diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer almost a year before and had undergone a double mastectomy. —Becca Longmire, Peoplemag, 11 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Greek mastos breast + English -ectomy

First Known Use

circa 1923, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

mastectomy

noun

mas·​tec·​to·​my ma-ˈstek-tə-mē 

plural mastectomies

: surgical removal of all or part of the breast and sometimes associated lymph nodes and muscles see modified radical mastectomy, partial mastectomy, radical mastectomy, simple mastectomy