Surgery

The most common surgery for men with breast cancer is mastectomy. This involves removal of the whole breast, including the nipple and areola (the darker area of skin around the nipple). Sometimes part of the muscle under the breast is also removed. One or more of the lymph nodes under the arm will usually also be removed and examined. This helps the doctors find out whether the cancer has spread outside the breast and helps in determining treatment options. Sentinel node biopsy is a new surgical procedure, still being tested in clinical trials. It’s thought that sentinel node biopsy might have fewer side effects than the standard surgery to remove lymph nodes (axillary node dissection or axillary clearance). For more information about sentinel node biopsy click here.

After surgery

Your hospital stay may vary from 1 to 5 days. How long you stay in hospital will depend on the type of surgery and your progress-each man is different in how long he takes to recover from a mastectomy.

You can expect the following after a mastectomy:

• you may have some pain, discomfort, or numbness in your chest and armpit while the wound is healing
• you will have a scar across the affected side of your chest; the appearance of the scar will improve with healing over time
• if lymph nodes have been removed, you will usually have one or more drains (plastic tubes) from the chest and/or underarm to remove blood and lymph fluid that collects during the healing process; these are usually removed a few days after surgery
• you may have some stiffness in your shoulder; it is important to talk with your doctor or breast care nurse about ways to reduce this; physiotherapy can be helpful.

If you are worried about any aspects of treatment or side effects talk to your doctor.

Figure 1 - Male mastectomy

Illustration reproduced with permission from Men with Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Care 2005

© Alexa Rutherford.  Available on www.breastcancercare.org.uk

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