simple mastectomy, a surgical procedure in which a breast is completely removed and the underlying muscles and adjacent lymph nodes are left intact, performed to remove small malignant neoplasms of the breast or as a palliative measure to remove an ulcerated carcinoma in advanced breast cancer. It also may be done prophylactically when the patient has severe fibrocystic disease and a strong family history of breast cancer. Compare modified radical mastectomy, radical mastectomy. See also mastectomy.
