A lumpectomy, or breast-conserving surgery, is the simplest surgical procedure to treat breast cancer. It’s a common treatment option for people with ductal carcinoma in situ or early breast cancer, or sometimes for those with locally advanced breast cancer after they receive neoadjuvant therapy, which is drug therapy that’s given before surgery. In some cases, drug therapy can shrink a tumor enough, so a lumpectomy becomes an option instead of a mastectomy.

During a lumpectomy, the surgeon removes only the tumor and a small rim of normal tissue around it, which is called a margin. It leaves most of the breast skin and tissue in place, which helps preserve the breast’s natural shape and appearance.

Sometimes, axillary lymph nodes are also removed during surgery. If this happens, the surgeon will make a separate incision in the underarm area, and a pathologist will examine the lymph nodes to see if they contain cancer.

A lumpectomy is done under general anesthesia, meaning you’re asleep during the surgery. While people typically go home on the day of surgery, the length of their hospital stay depends on whether lymph nodes were removed.

Radiation therapy is usually given afterwards to kill any remaining cancer cells that are too small to see on imaging tests or to measure with lab tests. To learn more, see the Radiation Therapy chapter of this tool.

For more information about lumpectomy surgery, visit the Lumpectomy page in the Treatment section of komen.org.