Mastectomy is removal of the entire breast and includes the following types: Skin-sparing mastectomy: Spares the pectoral muscles and enough skin to cover the wound, making breast reconstruction much easier, and spares axillary lymph nodes Nipple-sparing mastectomy: Same as skin-sparing mastectomy plus spares the nipple and areola Simple mastectomy: Spares the pectoral muscles and axillary lymph nodes Modified radical mastectomy: Spares the pectoral muscles and removes some axillary lymph nodes Radical mastectomy: Removes axillary lymph nodes and the pectoral muscles Radical mastectomy is rarely done unless the cancer has invaded the pectoral muscles.