Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure in which the breast, underlying chest muscle (including pectoralis major and pectoralis minor), and lymph nodes of the axilla are removed as a treatment for breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

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It was developed and first performed by William Stewart Halsted

William Stewart Halsted

William Stewart Halsted was an American surgeon who emphasized strict aseptic technique during surgical procedures, was an early champion of newly discovered anesthetics, and introduced several new operations, including the radical mastectomy for breast cancer...

 in 1882. From about 1895 to the mid-1970s about 90% of the women being treated for breast cancer in the US underwent the Halsted radical mastectomy

Mastectomy

Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...

. This is a very morbid surgery and is not performed except in extreme cases.

Today, there are three main categories of mastectomy:

1. total (simple) mastectomy,
2. modified radical mastectomy,
3. partial mastectomy.