From an expert in the field comes the definitive guide to managing breast cancer in the information age—a comprehensive resource for diagnosis, treatment, and peace of mind. The breast cancer cure rate is at an all-time high, and so is the information, to say nothing of the misinformation, available to patients and their families. Online searches can lead to unreliable sources, leaving even the most resilient patient feeling uneasy and uncertain about her diagnosis, treatment options, doctors, side effects, and recovery. Adding to a patient’s anxiety is input from well-meaning friends and family, with stories, worries, and opinions to share, sometimes without knowing the details of her particular case, when in reality breast cancer treatment has gone well beyond a “one size fits all” approach. Elisa Port, MD, FACS, chief of breast surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital and co-director of the Dubin Breast Center in Manhattan, offers an optimistic antidote to the ocean of Web data on screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Inside you’ll discover • the various scenarios when mammograms indicate the need for a biopsy • the questions to ask about surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and breast reconstruction • the important things to look for when deciding where to get care • the key to deciphering complicated pathology reports and avoiding confusion • the facts on genetic testing and the breast cancer genes: BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 • the best resources and advice for those supporting someone with breast cancer From innovations in breast cancer screening and evaluating results to post-treatment medications and living as a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Elisa Port describes every possible test and every type of doctor visit, providing a comprehensive, empathetic guide that every newly diagnosed woman (and her family) will want to have at her side. Praise for The New Generation Breast Cancer Book “One book you need . . . If you’re considering your options for treatment or know someone who is, this step-by-step guide, The New Generation Breast Cancer Book, is essential reading.”—InStyle “Elisa Port, M.D., is the doctor every patient deserves: brilliant and compassionate. Her book will be a sanity saver and, quite possibly, a life saver.”—Geralyn Lucas, author of Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy “As up-to-date as one can get, with lots to offer people facing a cancer diagnosis or hoping to support someone with the disease.”—Library Journal (starred review) “The New Generation Breast Cancer Book helps you sort through all the information you’ve gathered, clarify the terminology, consider the options, and make the right decisions for your unique case.”—Edie Falco “A lifeline for many women in need of today’s most up-to-date choices for treatment . . . Everyone should read this book for themselves, their mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and friends.”—Kara DioGuardi, Grammy-nominated songwriter, music executive, and Arthouse Entertainment co-founder “The book is teeming with easy-to-understand medical explanations, tips, takeaways, and pro-and-con discussions of various courses of action. Port also includes two extremely useful appendices that respectively take on common myths and answer questions frequently asked by friends and family. This is a vital read that will empower men and women alike.”—Publishers Weekly

"Providing comprehensive, current, and reliable information on breast cancer, this book, written by an experienced oncologist, a surgeon, and a breast cancer survivor, informs and inspires readers, wherever they are in the breast cancer experience. Patient stories, essays from medical specialists, and illustrations add clarity and insight"--

As women quickly discover, their life when treatment ends is very different from what it was before their diagnosis. Often exhausted, anxious, and emotionally volatile, they are beset by physical discomforts, fearful of intimacy, afraid for their children, worried about recurrence. Anticipating a return to “normalcy,” they discover that the old version of normal no longer applies. There could be no more knowledgeable guide for women embarking on this complicated journey than Hester Hill Schnipper, who is herself both an experienced oncology social worker and a breast cancer survivor. This comprehensive handbook provides jargon-free information on the wide range of practical issues women face as they navigate the journey back to health, including: •Managing physical problems such as fatigue, hot flashes, and aches and pains •Handling relationships: your children, your partner, your parents, your friends. •How to regain emotional and sexual intimacy •Coping with financial and workplace issues •Genetic testing: why, whether, when •How to move beyond the fear of recurrence •And much more This indispensable book will help you rediscover your capacity for joy as you move forward into the future—as a survivor.

One of the most comprehensive and bestselling books on breast cancer treatment and survival, completely revised and updated The sixth edition of Breast Cancer Survival Manual provides essential updates on treatment and care, enhancing the basic information that has made this the most trusted guide for women diagnosed with breast cancer for the past two decades. This edition includes the most current advice on: · The new genomic classification of breast cancer and its importance in treatment planning · Cancer gene testing, which determines if a woman will benefit from chemotherapy · New developments in breast cancer treatments with new targeted agents · The continued importance of getting a second opinion: why it’s important, what questions to ask, and how to decide which team of doctors is best for you. Conscious of the rapidly evolving spectrum of treatment options, Dr. John Link outlines the latest findings and professional wisdom for patients in pursuit of the most effective treatment plan for them. The Breast Cancer Survival Manual continues to be a must-have for any woman seeking accurate and accessible information about managing breast cancer today.

Two years after she underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy, Barbara Bradfield's aggressive breast cancer had recurred and spread to her lungs. The outlook was grim. Then she took part in Genentech's clinical trials for a new drug. Five years later she remains cancer-free. Her-2 is the biography of Herceptin, the drug that provoked dramatic responses in Barbara Bradfield and other women in the trials and that offers promise for hundreds of thousands of breast cancer patients. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, Herceptin has no disabling side effects. It works by inactivating Her-2/neu--a protein that makes cancer cells grow especially quickly-- produced by a gene found in 25 to 30 percent of all breast tumors. Herceptin caused some patients' cancers to disappear completely; in others, it slowed the progression of the disease and gave the women months or years they wouldn't otherwise have had. Herceptin is the first treatment targeted at a gene defect that gives rise to cancer. It marks the beginning of a new era of treatment for all kinds of cancers. Robert Bazell presents a riveting account of how Herceptin was born. Her-2 is a story of dramatic discoveries and strong personalities, showing the combination of scientific investigation, money, politics, ego, corporate decisions, patient activism, and luck involved in moving this groundbreaking drug from the lab to a patient's bedside. Bazell's deft portraits introduce us to the remarkable people instrumental in Herceptin's history, including Dr. Dennis Slamon, the driven UCLA oncologist who played the primary role in developing the treatment; Lily Tartikoff, wife of television executive Brandon Tartikoff, who tapped into Hollywood money and glamour to help fund Slamon's research; and Marti Nelson, who inspired the activists who lobbied for a "compassionate use" program that would allow women outside the clinical trials to have access to the limited supplies of Herceptin prior to FDA approval of the drug. And throughout there are the stories of the heroic women with advanced breast cancer who volunteered for the trials, risking what time they had left on an unproven treatment. Meticulously researched, written with clarity and compassion, Her-2 is masterly reporting on cutting-edge science.

Suzy and Nancy Goodman were more than sisters. They were best friends, confidantes, and partners in the grand adventure of life. For three decades, nothing could separate them. Not college, not marriage, not miles. Then Suzy got sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977; three agonizing years later, at thirty-six, she died. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Goodman girls were raised in postwar Peoria, Illinois, by parents who believed that small acts of charity could change the world. Suzy was the big sister—the homecoming queen with an infectious enthusiasm and a generous heart. Nancy was the little sister—the tomboy with an outsized sense of justice who wanted to right all wrongs. The sisters shared makeup tips, dating secrets, plans for glamorous fantasy careers. They spent one memorable summer in Europe discovering a big world far from Peoria. They imagined a long life together—one in which they’d grow old together surrounded by children and grandchildren. Suzy’s diagnosis shattered that dream. In 1977, breast cancer was still shrouded in stigma and shame. Nobody talked about early detection and mammograms. Nobody could even say the words “breast” and “cancer” together in polite company, let alone on television news broadcasts. With Nancy at her side, Suzy endured the many indignities of cancer treatment, from the grim, soul-killing waiting rooms to the mistakes of well-meaning but misinformed doctors. That’s when Suzy began to ask Nancy to promise. To promise to end the silence. To promise to raise money for scientific research. To promise to one day cure breast cancer for good. Big, shoot-for-the-moon promises that Nancy never dreamed she could fulfill. But she promised because this was her beloved sister. I promise, Suzy. . . . Even if it takes the rest of my life. Suzy’s death—both shocking and senseless—created a deep pain in Nancy that never fully went away. But she soon found a useful outlet for her grief and outrage. Armed only with a shoebox filled with the names of potential donors, Nancy put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and quickly discovered a groundswell of grassroots support. She was aided in her mission by the loving tutelage of her husband, restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, whose dynamic approach to entrepreneurship became Nancy’s model for running her foundation. Her account of how she and Norman met, fell in love, and managed to achieve the elusive “true marriage of equals” is one of the great grown-up love stories among recent memoirs. Nancy’s mission to change the way the world talked about and treated breast cancer took on added urgency when she was herself diagnosed with the disease in 1984, a terrifying chapter in her life that she had long feared. Unlike her sister, Nancy survived and went on to make Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. A pioneering force in cause-related marketing, SGK turned the pink ribbon into a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in SGK Race for the Cure events. And thanks to the more than $1.5 billion spent by SGK for cutting-edge research and community programs, a breast cancer diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. In fact, in the time since Suzy’s death, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 74 percent to 98 percent. Promise Me is a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?

A guide for men whose wives contract breast cancer offers emotional support and advice every husband needs, including guidance from breast cancer doctors and the shared experiences of those who have gone through the same ordeal. Original. 30,000 first printing.

The first cultural history of breast cancer, this book examines the social attitudes and medical treatments that together defined the modern relationship between women with the disease and their doctors. At the heart of the book are two unpublished correspondences-one between Barbara Mueller, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer eighty years ago, and her surgeon, William Steward Halsted, father of the radical mastectomy, and the other between Rachel Carson, who was writing Silent Spring as she was battling breast cancer, and her personal physician George Crile, Jr.

"This is an outstanding book. Murphy has done the cancer community a vital service."--Library Journal "Provides a valuable resource for young women. Combining anecdotes from breast cancer patients who have undergone treatment with emerging scientific research, Murphy has compiled a clear and nonjudgmental guide to negotiating treatment and living with the illness."--Publishers Weekly

From an expert in the field comes the definitive guide to managing breast cancer in the information age—a comprehensive resource for diagnosis, treatment, and peace of mind. The breast cancer cure rate is at an all-time high, and so is the information, to say nothing of the misinformation, available to patients and their families. Online searches can lead to unreliable sources, leaving even the most resilient patient feeling uneasy and uncertain about her diagnosis, treatment options, doctors, side effects, and recovery. Adding to a patient’s anxiety is input from well-meaning friends and family, with stories, worries, and opinions to share, sometimes without knowing the details of her particular case, when in reality breast cancer treatment has gone well beyond a “one size fits all” approach. Elisa Port, MD, FACS, chief of breast surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital and co-director of the Dubin Breast Center in Manhattan, offers an optimistic antidote to the ocean of Web data on screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Inside you’ll discover • the various scenarios when mammograms indicate the need for a biopsy • the questions to ask about surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and breast reconstruction • the important things to look for when deciding where to get care • the key to deciphering complicated pathology reports and avoiding confusion • the facts on genetic testing and the breast cancer genes: BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 • the best resources and advice for those supporting someone with breast cancer From innovations in breast cancer screening and evaluating results to post-treatment medications and living as a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Elisa Port describes every possible test and every type of doctor visit, providing a comprehensive, empathetic guide that every newly diagnosed woman (and her family) will want to have at her side. Praise for The New Generation Breast Cancer Book “One book you need . . . If you’re considering your options for treatment or know someone who is, this step-by-step guide, The New Generation Breast Cancer Book, is essential reading.”—InStyle “Elisa Port, M.D., is the doctor every patient deserves: brilliant and compassionate. Her book will be a sanity saver and, quite possibly, a life saver.”—Geralyn Lucas, author of Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy “As up-to-date as one can get, with lots to offer people facing a cancer diagnosis or hoping to support someone with the disease.”—Library Journal (starred review) “The New Generation Breast Cancer Book helps you sort through all the information you’ve gathered, clarify the terminology, consider the options, and make the right decisions for your unique case.”—Edie Falco “A lifeline for many women in need of today’s most up-to-date choices for treatment . . . Everyone should read this book for themselves, their mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and friends.”—Kara DioGuardi, Grammy-nominated songwriter, music executive, and Arthouse Entertainment co-founder “The book is teeming with easy-to-understand medical explanations, tips, takeaways, and pro-and-con discussions of various courses of action. Port also includes two extremely useful appendices that respectively take on common myths and answer questions frequently asked by friends and family. This is a vital read that will empower men and women alike.”—Publishers Weekly