TriangleFOR PATIENTS · SOURCE READING
Reconstruction after lumpectomy
Source: Lumpectomy (Breast-Conserving Surgery), National Cancer Institute.
Source updated: Not stated in this source · Captured 2026-09-09.
Selected source text with whitespace normalised. This Triangle page is not an NCI PDQ summary. Independent clinical review is pending.
NCI patient treatment article for this disease Exact source article; not a clinically reviewed indication or current-standard recommendation.
Context: Lumpectomy (Breast-Conserving Surgery)
After a lumpectomy, your breast will usually look and feel much like it did before surgery. You will have a scar at the site of surgery. And there may be a dent where the tumor and tissue were removed.
Talk to your surgical team about how your surgery might change how your breast looks. If you think you will not be happy with the look or feel of your breast after surgery, you may think about reconstruction. Reconstruction can take place during or any time after the lumpectomy.
There are two types of breast reconstruction for people who have a lumpectomy:
Oncoplastic surgery combines lumpectomy with plastic surgery that can help make the breasts look more even if large amounts of tissue are removed from one breast. It can also reduce scarring and dents. A plastic surgeon will often do this reconstruction during the same surgery as the lumpectomy.
Source links and citations
Revision reconstruction usually happens after you have healed from a lumpectomy. A plastic surgeon may be able to improve scarring and hardening of tissue at the surgical site. And they may be able to restore the shape of the breast with fat grafting, tissue flaps, or implants.
Source links and citations
Preserved source evidence · Independent clinical review pending · Not medical advice