• Breast Cancer highlighted
    Cancer

    The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book — A Lifeline for Navigating Breast Cancer

ROCHESTER, Minn. — October 3, 2012.  The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book, available online and in retail outlets nationwide starting in October, helps women and their families better understand the disease, make informed decisions regarding treatments, and cope with the emotional and physical effects of breast cancer.

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MULTIMEDIA ALERT: A video interview with Dr. Hartmann is available for journalists to download on the Mayo Clinic News Network.

"We wrote The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book to take the mystery out of breast cancer and give women guidance and tools for what to do if they are diagnosed," says Charles Loprinzi, M.D., a breast cancer expert at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the book's medical co-editor. "The good news is that deaths from breast cancer are declining, due in large part to ongoing research and advances in diagnosis and treatment. We are seeing the cancer as a longer-term, manageable condition, such as heart disease or diabetes."

This straightforward yet approachable resource from Mayo Clinic, one of the most respected names in medicine, will empower all who are, or might be, affected by breast cancer. "Thanks to new research discoveries about how breast cancer develops and how to block it, we have a much better chance of treating it and, one day, preventing it," explains Lynn Hartmann, M.D., medical co-editor of The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book and another breast cancer expert at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. "It's also important to understand your risk of getting the disease. Then you can decide what steps to take, if any, to reduce your risk."

The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book offers solid tools for coping with the uncertainties and decisions that must be made after a breast cancer diagnosis. Janet Vittone, M.D., is an internist and specialist at Mayo Clinic and a breast cancer survivor. She says, "Even though I was lucky enough to have world-renowned colleagues just down the hall, I wish I had a book like this for myself, and to give to my family, after my mother, two sisters and I all received a breast cancer diagnosis within the same year."

The book guides women and their families through every available option in supportive, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand language. Along with the cutting-edge medical information, The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book addresses questions such as:

  • How do stress, obesity, and alcohol intake impact the likelihood of getting breast cancer?
  • Are ovarian or uterine cancers related to breast cancer?<'li>
  • Am I at high risk for breast cancer?
  • Does my having breast cancer mean my daughter will get it too?
  • How do I sort through treatment options? What options are available?

Each chapter in The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book was reviewed by multiple experts at Mayo Clinic. The book, which also has a Glossary of Terms and Additional Resources sections, is divided into three parts:

Part 1: Cancer Basics — What to do when cancer strikes, and understanding cancer.

Part 2: Breast Cancer — A complete overview, including making sense of risk statistics, preventing breast cancer, the latest on screening, different types of breast cancer, treating invasive breast cancer, breast reconstruction, what if the cancer comes back, and ovarian and uterine cancer.

Part 3: Life After a Cancer Diagnosis — Feelings and emotions, treatment side effects, complementary therapies, survivorship, and advice for partners.

Each year in the United States, over 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center's team of experts has written an essential guide to breast cancer. The book includes the most accurate and reliable information available, reflecting improvements in both understanding and treatment of breast cancer.

The book is also rich in hope, with stories of women who have successfully navigated their breast cancer journeys. And it's realistic. When a cure may not be possible, the book provides guidance for redirecting hope and priorities toward other goals.

Mayo Clinic's proceeds from the book will support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic.

THE MAYO CLINIC BREAST CANCER BOOK
By the breast health experts at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
Edited by Lynn C. Hartmann, M.D., and Charles L. Loprinzi, M.D.
Published by Good Books
October 2012
$22.95 paperback

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About Mayo Clinic:

Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.orgwww.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.


Media Contact: Ginger Plumbo, 507-284-5005 (days), newsbureau@mayo.edu

Joe Dangor, 507-284-5005 (days), newsbureau@mayo.edu

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