Breast Cancer: The Complete Guide

One of every nine women in the U.S. today will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime, up from an estimated one in 15 in 1975246 . Should that disease afflict you or someone you know, this manual by Hirshaut, an oncologist, and Pressman, a surgeon, will serve as a step-by-step companion, from diagnosis and treatment to life after the disease. The authors effectively combine accurate, up-to-date medical facts with brief narratives from women who have overcome the disease. Their guide is thorough and intelligent, written to give women a clear sense of the potentially bewildering choices that will face them: needle aspiration or open biopsy70-71 , lumpectomy or mastectomy117 , chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Not all the news is bad: more than 75% of malignant lumps are found by women themselves. Hirshaut and Pressman explain the technique involved in this procedure and what signs to look for47 . They also sketch the social and political contexts of the illness. For example, last year, more than 44,000 women died of breast cancer--and yet the NIH withdrew funding for a study that would have explored the link between dietary fat and breast cancer, due to budget restrictions. Somehow there was, however, enough money to give the Pentagon $29 billion. (Sept.)