Surgical treatment of breast cancer has been marked by a constant evolution since the Halsted radical mastectomy described in the late 19th century has become the current standard Madden radical mastectomy, a breast surgery that involves the ablation of tissue with the axillary lymphatic preserving both pectoral muscles. The purpose of this paper was to present the stages that have marked the evolution of this intervention and to provide an overview of the way breast cancer has been understood and treated in the last century.