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Mammograms After Breast Cancer Surgery
If you still have breast tissue after breast cancer surgery, it’s likely that you will need to continue to get mammograms as recommended by your doctor.
Do I need a mammogram after breast cancer surgery?
People who have had breast cancer have a higher risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast. If you have breast tissue after treatment for breast cancer, it is very important to continue breast cancer screening.
There are many different kinds of breast cancer surgery. The type of surgery you have will affect if you need to get mammograms in the future.
- If you had breast-conserving surgery, you will still need to get mammograms of both breasts.
- If you had a mastectomy of one breast, you most likely will need mammograms of the other breast.
- If you had a nipple-sparing mastectomy of one breast, where some breast tissue might be left, mammograms might still be recommended for both breasts.
- If you had a double (bilateral) mastectomy, you most likely won’t have enough breast tissue left to need mammograms.
Discuss a screening plan based on your history and treatment with your cancer care team.
Mammograms after breast-conserving surgery
Most experts recommend that people who have had breast-conserving surgery, sometimes called a partial mastectomy or lumpectomy, get a mammogram of the treated breast 6 to 12 months after treatment ends.
The mammogram done at this time serves as a new baseline for the affected breast. Surgery and radiation both cause changes in the skin and breast tissues that will show up on the mammogram, which might make it harder to read. Future mammograms will be compared with this one to help your care team watch for signs that the cancer has come back (recurred) or a new cancer has developed in the breast tissue.
Follow-up mammograms of the treated breast are typically done at least yearly after that, but some doctors might recommend that you have mammograms more often. You will still need to have routine mammograms on the other (untreated) breast as well. Depending on other factors, additional imaging tests might also be recommended.
Mammograms after mastectomy
People who have had a mastectomy, including simple mastectomy, modified radical mastectomy, and radical mastectomy, to treat breast cancer should not need further routine screening mammograms on that side, but will still need regular mammograms on the remaining breast.
If both breasts have been removed (a double or bilateral mastectomy), mammograms should no longer be needed because there shouldn't be enough breast tissue left to do a mammogram.
After a mastectomy, cancer might come back in the skin or chest wall on that side, but if this happens, it is usually found by feeling it either during a physical exam or a breast self-exam.
For people who have had a nipple-sparing mastectomy, also called a subcutaneous mastectomy, some doctors might recommend follow-up mammograms because some breast tissue can be left behind under the nipple.
If you're not sure what type of mastectomy you had or if you need to get mammograms, be sure to ask your doctor.
Mammograms after reconstruction
It’s possible for people with reconstructed breasts to get mammograms, but experts agree that people who have breast reconstruction after a simple, modified radical, or radical mastectomy don’t need routine mammograms of the affected breast(s).
Still, if an area of concern is found during a physical exam on a person who has had breast reconstruction, a diagnostic mammogram and breast ultrasound might be done. Breast MRI might also sometimes be used to look at the area closely if the mammogram and ultrasound results aren't clear.
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- References
Developed by the P站视频 medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
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Last Revised: July 23, 2026
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