Neoplasms Books

This is a great source of information. My urologist finds Dr. Walsh a bit arrogant but there is no denying his contribution to successful surgery techniques in the removal of the prostate.
I did find a bias towards the researchers at Johns Hopkins as he seldom mentioned other work being done at other research centers.

This book was recommended by my urologist just after informing me that I had prostate cancer. It is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to learn about this particular kind of cancer and all of the major treatment options. I detected a slight bias toward radical prostatectomy (It's the gold standard) but all of the other treatments are covered to include their benefits, risks and success rates.

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and immediately set about getting as much information as I could. I searched the web and ordered many books from Amazon to help me understand what I was up against and how best to structure the conversations and questions regarding my case with my urologist. This book is by Dr. Walsh, THE LEADING AUTHORITY on prostate cancer, at John's Hopkins hospital. He just updated the book, second edition in 2007. and it compares the robotic surgery to the open surgery as well as covering every topic in detail. Although written by a doctor it is easily accessible to a lay person as myself. AAA+++

Book Review: Dr. Patrick Walsh's Guide to Surviving Prostate Cancer

From: www.BasilAndSpice.com

Patrick Walsh, M.D., author of Guide To Surviving Prostate Cancer and Distinguished Service Professor of Urology--The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, is the world's foremost authority on prostate cancer. His book provides some striking news for men:

* More than 200,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year.
* 27,000 will die in the U.S. from it this year.
* Prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in men.
* Because prostate cancer is silent, generally without symptoms, early detection is the key.
* Men should begin being screened for prostate cancer at age 40.
* When prostate cancer is small, it is curable.
* More than 95% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are alive ten years later.

Dr. Walsh evaluates the three major risk factors--age, race, and family history. Prostate cancer is the scourge of older men (age 60-79) with a risk rate of 1 in 7 developing the cancer. The cancer frequently takes time to grow, over the course of decades.

The highest risk of prostate cancer hits African American men. Why this is, is not completely understood, but may involve genetic susceptibility, diet, and lack of vitamin D. Their cancers are also more likely to be severe types and recur.

Risk of prostate cancer grows higher with familial links. In fact, the risk is 2.5 times higher if your father or brother had prostate cancer. Hereditary prostate cancer, (possible risk of 50%) is believed to occur when three first degree family members had it, the disease shows itself in three generations, or if two relatives developed the disease earlier (less than age 55).
The most important action to take is to get screened, beginning at age 40. The PSA test can provide a baseline for later years. Dr. Walsh adds that those between the ages of 50 and 64 who die of prostate cancer, could very well have been saved if the disease had been caught while in their forties.


In addition, Dr. Walsh includes a prevention chapter in his new second edition. He recommends men eat a minimum of five fruits and vegetables a day, especially focusing in on the cruciferous vegetables as cited from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli are examples of the type of vegetables which contain sulforaphane--an important anticancer ingredient which helps to increase potent enzymes in the body. In turn, the body is assisted in creating its own antioxidants to help ward off cancer.

This book is thorough and provides answers to practically every question about prostate cancer. I would recommend that EVERY man read it.

5 Stars

Related-- http://www.basilandspice.com/sexual-matters/why-healtlhy-men-are-having-sex.html

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, this book is a must have. It contains answers to practically all of your questions and is in an easy to understand format.

The first edition of "Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy" was recommended to us some ten years ago and we decided to update to the 5th Edition. This volume contains nearly 50% more information on the advances in detection, treatment and prognoses of the various types of cancer. Not being a physician, I have found that the references are easily read and understandable. It provides insight on prevention and treatment.

Great strides are being made and this book gives inspiration and hope that our doctors will continue to attack cancer in all forms.

I recommend this reference book to all who want an authoritative source to understand the types and stages of most common cancers.


Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy; Revised 5th Edition: How Cancer Is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day (Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy)

Higly recommend. Great to have around so when you have questions this book will answer them, as we often have questions when a doctor is not around to answer them. Sometimes we may may not want to ask a question well this book lets you find your answers in the privacy of you home. I had 2 previos versions and I preordered this one as the others were very useful and this one has been also.

While working in a very large private hospital in Omaha, I worked in Radiation Oncology. Finding myself alone, without a nurse to teach me how to teach my patients, a friend suggested this book. I purchased it, devoured it and put the information to use, teaching my patients about treatment protocols, systems involved in their treatment process, in terms that they could understand. I recommended this book to many of them, they always returned to thank me for suggesting the book. CC

It is a wealth of information - that every person diagnosed with any type of cancer can benefit from. Having had 2 bouts with breast cancer, I have bought many books. This one is the best resource book I have found. I have loaned it out many times and everyone is thankful for the information.

It is written in an easy style, such that an average person can understand the language. It presents many questions for the patient & family to ask doctors, along with the many options available.

I highly recommend this for anyone who needs any type of information about cancer and it's treatments.

This book is a one stop guide to so many things involving therapies that it is hard to know where to start. Cancer nurses feel this is the best consumer book out there. Information is in plain English, simple terms, with lots of illustrations. Tons of referrals to agencies that may be helpful.

I literally just put down this book!!! If you are living with an ostomy, cancer or other health issue and could use a good laugh...this is your book.

Be ready to laugh and cry as Brenda takes you along on her journey through colorectal cancer. Be ready to read some of your own thoughts and experiences in this book. Reading this book is like talking to a good friend.

I genuinely appreciate how Brenda can share with us her thoughts and experiences with amazing openness and candor.

As the voice of experience...Laughter truly is the best medicine!!! Try it!!

Brenda's communication skills make her the perfect messenger to deliver a touching, humorous yet medically accurate tale of her own experience with cancer, surgery and healing - both physically and emotionally.

Her story was especially touching since we went through similar experiences two years ago. Her story and ours had many parallels, with nearly the same characters in each part of the story - the accuracy of her account is amazing and truthful.

A "must read" for anyone living with an ostomy or colorectal cancer as a patient, family member or friend.

Insightful, accurate, touching, and funny!

Brenda Elsagher is living proof that if you're determined (a feisty attitude is a bonus) and armed with a brutal sense of humor, the spirit of a fighter won't be defeated. And Brenda is a fighter. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 1995, she shares in If The Battle Is Over Why Am I Still In Uniform? her private war with a deadly enemy; one she was determined to beat.

After reading this book I will never think about my colon, or any other body part for that matter, in the same way again. I learned that screening for colorectal cancer is important, because if caught early enough, it can be cured.

If The Battle Is Over Why Am I Still In Uniform? is filled with wit, wisdom, and the stark realities of cancer. I laughed often and my eyes misted more than once. It is a well-written book of one woman's cancer reality. It is also the story of that woman's determination to grow old with her husband and meet her grandchildren.

This book will provide you with information that might just save your life. If you know someone with colorectal cancer, sharing this book with them will let them know that they're not fighting the battle alone.

Also, if you know someone (maybe you) who is long overdue for their colon screening, this book will encourage them with reality. Get your doctor's number handy and call now!

Humor is where you find it. Brenda Elsagher has the amazing ability to find humor in a most difficult journey through colorectal cancer. She encourages the reader to use humor as a survival tactic to combat cancer. This book presents a sensitive portrayal of the immense challenge to the human spirit posed by cancer diagnosis and treatment. It also contains a powerful message of hope for life after diagnosis as readers follow Brenda's transformation from hair stylist to comedian. Brenda's description of her treatment for cancer "back there" under the capable hands of her surgeon "the rear admiral" is incredibly funny. It is likely to cause the reader to laugh out loud. For cancer patients that is a very good thing as laughter is good medicine!!!

Although I have known Brenda for 25 years and know what she has been through, the book was very hard to put down. It is an inspiration to survivors and caregivers alike. I am a caregiver myself and she really touched home on many points. It is a must read, especially if cancer has touched your life in any way, shape or form. A definate must for your bookshelf!

I would have liked to have known John Diamond. This book is not pretty about him versus the medical establishment, but it is real, it is truth, it gets to the heart of the matter and that's life and death and what you will do to keep on living. I admire his courage. I admire his family and friends for being there for him. I have not read anything like it and couldn't put it down. God bless you, John.

this is my sixth cancer autobiography in the past couple months, so I have some basis for comparison. diamond's story is certainly the most grisly (head and neck cancers are horrific), the funniest and the most moving. he tells his story with unapologetic humanity, avoiding "hero" speak, entering into his disease from a cerebral path. regular people may find more in common with diamond than world-class cyclist Lance Armstrong--and take greater solice from him.

I was deeply touched by this book. Having watched my mother and my wife die of cancer, and knowing that I too will likely go by the same route, the subject is part of me. And being a writer who always longed to write his masterpiece, I feel such an identification with John Diamond who here does indeed write his masterpiece, an unlikely tale from the heart, mind and soul without a trance of cant or any phoniness. I hope he knows how good this book is. It is-believe it or not-a comedic master work, the funniest book I have read in quite a while. He uses humor tempered with rationalism instead of pathos to confront the horror of being torn apart by cancer (and its treatment). I can see Shakespeare reading this and sitting up straight with the realization that not only can this man make those words dance, he can engage our heart.

John Diamond is a print and broadcast journalist, a well-known Londoner whom I had never heard of before I picked up this book. Obviously he is a very funny and keenly insightful man who sees things that others miss, a magical wordsmith who did his best work when others might rightly have restricted themselves to wallowing in self pity. He contracts cancer of the tongue and throat at probably the most joyous time in his life with a successful career in full swing and a brilliant second marriage not ten years old. He has two little children under four years of age and he himself is still in his early forties. And then he learns that he has cancer. Within a few months time he loses his ability to eat and to speak and to even breath properly.

One of the terrible ironies of this book is the fact that Diamond wrote newspaper columns on the fraudulence of the alternative medicine industry, and put his faith entirely in the hands of the medical establishment. There is something of the spirit of English rationalism and the belief in science that allowed him nonetheless to see his treatment as something positive. Because he was relatively young and had a keen desire to stay alive he was motivated to take the treatment. As he says, he really had no choice. He had a responsibility to his wife and his children and his parents to do whatever was necessary to stay alive. And so he went under the surgeon's knife, he subjected himself to radiation and eventually to chemotherapy, all the while getting worse and worse. As he himself writes on page 91: "No wonder the alternative quacks get away with their fairy dust treatments: you die just as quickly as with the real thing but you feel better about it." He had "the real thing."

Nonetheless he can laugh and make us laugh with him. The scene where he tears out the tubes and IVs sticking in him in an attempt to escape the hospital is hilarious. On page 122 he's describing all the gadgets and tubes, etc. he's hooked up to: "There was also a tube connected to a catheter shoved up my urethra and carrying away my urine. (Here's a tip for the gents in the audience. If anyone ever asks if he can poke a catheter up your urethra and leave it there for a few days, tell him no. They will say it doesn't hurt and express surprise when, on pulling it out a few days later, they have to scrape you off the ceiling. Avoid.)"

Any man that can see the humor in such horrific circumstances, is a man worth listening to, and a man we can respect and admire. John Diamond is such a man and this is a beautiful book.

This book was incredible: as soon as I finished reading it, I read it again. I don't know how to describe it, because although it's a book about one man's experience with cancer, it's much more than that. There are parts in it that are actually funny, mainly because the author has a very sharp sense of humor. I enjoyed this book because it was so honest and so immediate -- I felt that I knew this person -- and I was amazed that someone could write so well about such a painful subject. And amazed, as well, that he could keep going through everything he went through without giving up; I know I could never have done it. This book makes you appreciate life more for having read it. I read almost 200 books in 2000, and this was in my top five.

Unfortunately, while I'm writing this, John Diamond has already died--a couple of months ago, actually, after a long & exhausting 4-year fight with cancer. I should probably not use the word "fight" though--one of the basic things that the author stresses in this book is that dealing with cancer is not a fight in any way: it's living with the circumstances that you're dealt with, & since you really have no choice, you can't be considered a brave person. Still, after finishing this book, I would have to (partly) disagree with J.Diamond. Humour can be a great weapon & also a very brave behaviour. And John Diamond never lost his sense of humour, up until the very end. At least that's what I felt while I was reading the book: that I was listening to a brilliant, down-to-earth, realistic & yet hopeful person talk about his experience. How cancer affected him, his everyday life, his thoughts, his feelings, & how it affected his family life, too.

John Diamond, in this book, does fight but in a different way: he fights alternative medicine that doesn't have a basis in scientific research. He uses lots of well thought out arguments & makes a case in favour of orthodox medicine & the treatments it offers. John Diamond also gives new meaning to the phrase "living life from day to day", not in any new-agey kind of way, but just through the belief that life has a lot to give even when this disease is taking away so much.

"Because cowards get cancer too" has been a very interesting read for me. An intelligent, informative, full of details book about living with cancer. But also a funny (sometimes out-loud funny) read that's sure to help & even guide lots of people in their own struggle with disease. In this way, even though it's surely not enough for the late author himself & for his family, John Diamond lives on through this book.

I was recommended this book by Amazon when I purchased a "Living with Cancer" cookbook. I have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to read this so I could hear a "survivors's" story, and get hope and inspiration for my complete recovery. Whereas the storyteller does survive 2 major cancers, and does give good insight on body-spirit connection,nutrition, meditation, and reaching out for support, I was left feeling quite depressed after finishing the book. The storyteller survives, Thank Goodness, and apparently remains cancer free, but pretty much all the other characters in the book whom she befriended thru various support groups, eventually succumb to their cancer and pass away.
This may indeed be reality, but not one that I needed to be confronted with repeatedly at the beginning of my journey. So, if you are just starting down this cancer path, and you are looking for hope and inspiration, beware, this book may not be the answer to your prayers!! To be totally honest, even though the storyteller survives, and I am really happy about that, there was so much death in this book that I would not recommend it to anyone who does not want to dwell on where their journey might take them.

There is no way to change the ending. We all die. That's a fact. But Marion Rosen brings some cheer into the search for the end. She survives two major bouts with cancer. It's a surprise ending in a way. I enjoyed her novels and now Her book on cancer is very special indeed. Congratulations to the author!

"Dance Like Nobody's Watching", what a positive and uplifting book. As I closed the book after reading about Marion's positive experiences and how she was always there for those who needed her, I felt a big warm hug from my dear friend and colleague. This is a book that I will read more that one time.

"Dance Like Nobody's Watching" is an unusual insight into how people diagnosed with cancer face their everyday problems. The author skillfully blends the emotional, spiritual and clinical aspects of fighting this disease.

My heartfelt thanks to Marian Rosen for this amazing book and sharing her battle with two forms of cancer. It is honestly and beautifully written, transcending any story I have read about cancer. This is an intimate account of what the author experienced and how she learned to cope with life-threatening diseases (breast and ovarian cancers),embrace life, and survive. Dance Like Nobody's Watching shows that one can move from a feeling of helplessness to hopefulness, from fearing death to choosing life, from feeling out of control to taking charge, and from feeling alone to finding a wealth of support from family, friends, and support groups.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching is not only a story about cancer, but also a highly informative or instructional manual/how-to guide for dealing with cancer. I was greatly impressed with the wealth of information presented on treatment,research, legislation, and groups dealing with cancer.

I highly recommend this book for everyone, including those with cancer or those who have friends or family members with cancer.

Western Medicine is a tremendous resource...Some parents would walk 2 days to get to a hospital for antibiotics for a sick child. What a miracle! Yet even there, it is easy to forget that even Penicillin is produced by Penicillium chrysogenum, a type of Fungi, i.e. it was developed by studying Nature.

We need to re-embrace nature-based solutions to health care, and we desperately need to protect our Rain Forests, where so many natural medicines are still waiting to be discovered. ( See the inspired genius PAUL STAMETS, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, for more on this topic)

What does this have to do with this book? Well, this book clearly and fairly discusses a fairly unknown herbal treatment, which has remarkably helped many, many cancer patients; it can even be taken together with conventional treatment. There is no silver bullet for all cancers, but everyone should know about this beautiful elegant herbal remedy!

ESSIAC TEA was used to treat Cancer patients by RENE CAISSE, a beautifully dedicated nurse in Canada who discovered that one of her patients had been cured of Breast Cancer, from this traditional Ojibwe, First Nation tonic. The story of RENE CAISSE, is extremely moving. She only treated people in late stage cancer, who had a note from their doctors, saying there was nothing more Western Medicine could do, AND SHE DID IT FOR FREE!

Still, she was hounded by the Government, and the Conventional Medical Establishment, even though some doctors, including President Kennedy's personal physician, honored and recognized her work.

Read this book if you or a loved one is dealing with Cancer. Read this book if you want to see a prime example of herbal natural treatments being suppressed instead of honored and embraced. We need all sorts of treatments to help us be well. May we honor the new age of Complimentary Medicine...honoring technological advancements, yes, but also Honoring the gifts of our Indigenous Cultures, and also HONORING the amazing gifts of Nature, which must be protected much more fiercely than we are doing now. PLEASE PROTECT THE RAIN FORESTS & MOTHER EARTH!...

BLESSINGS ON YOUR HEALING JOURNEY!

In my search for health and truth it has led me back to nature and natural foods for optimum health. This book is a piece of rare gold and I personally am an example of the health it has brought back to me.

very helpful. Useful information. Very interesting. All you need to know about the herbal conconction of essiac

I was Hospitalized last year for Lymphoma.Iwas so ill chances of survival were slim.The Doctors had to remove my spleen,for they could of not saved it from the disease.I heared about essiac Tea.I had nothing to loose at this point.I had a friend bring it in to the Hospital were I was at.The remarkable difference the tea made, made me a true believer in it.It has been 6 months since I first took my first drink from it and to this day I am still drinking it daily.I have not missed a day.Now 6 months have passed and the Doctors say they got 99% of the disease.There is still 1% left,but from the day I was diagnosed,I could not be any happier.They say it is uncurrable,but If I can get it in remission that is good enough for me.Thank you essiac Tea and to all my friends that stood by me in the Hospital and are still with me today fighting this disease.And to a very special friend Kenny,that helped me efford the tea during a very hard time of money.And also a very special thanks to my ex-Husband and my children that gave me hope and comfort again.This is not a easy disease to swallow but stick in there.There is hope.Thank you for the time to have let me share my feelings.Thank you Essiac Tea.

I was Hospitalized last year for Lymphoma.Iwas so ill chances of survival were slim.The Doctors had to remove my spleen,for they could of not saved it from the disease.I heared about essiac Tea.I had nothing to loose at this point.I had a friend bring it in to the Hospital were I was at.The remarkable difference the tea made, made me a true believer in it.It has been 6 months since I first took my first drink from it and to this day I am still drinking it daily.I have not missed a day.Now 6 months have passed and the Doctors say they got 99% of the disease.There is still 1% left,but from the day I was diagnosed,I could not be any happier.They say it is uncurrable,but If I can get it in remission that is good enough for me.Thank you essiac Tea and to all my friends that stood by me in the Hospital and are still with me today fighting this disease.And to a very special friend Kenny,that helped me efford the tea during a very hard time of money.And also a very special thanks to my ex-Husband and my children that gave me hope and comfort again.This is not a easy disease to swallow but stick in there.There is hope.Thank you for the time to have let me share my feelings.Thank you Essiac Tea.

I enjoyed reading this edition of this book. As a pathologist in practice, I occasionally buy new editions of books as a review. Much better than going to a meeting for CME. The material in this book is particularily "real world" and directly applicable to everyday practice. Highly recommended also to new pathologist or those in training.

I have bought this book at the begining of my pathology residency. Decision proved to be wise. It is concisely writen, language is plain and easy to understand. Photomicrographs are clear, subtitles are informative. But of course this book alone shall not make you master of the craft. The real value is shown, when using the book as the companion to daily practice. For novice path residents, combined with sound knowledge of general pathology it should make "pimping behind the scope" bearable.

An excellent and concise review of the common endometrial biopsy. Simply a must-have for pathology residents!

This is a concise and easy-to-understand overview of the topic. Unlike a lot of textbooks, this one can be read cover-to-cover without too much effort. Once you've read it, you're equipped to handle endometrial currettage specimens in your daily pathology practice. The only down-side is that many of the pictures are in black-and-white. But there are color photos as well. Overall, this is a wonderful book!

I ordered this book when I needed to master the diagnostic criteria for a wide ranger of endometrial pathology commonly seen in biopsies. I was amazed by how easy a read it is, as well as how informative and useful the book has been. A little pricey, but definitely worth purchasing.

Oncology nursing secrets is an excellent guide for community- visiting nurses. Very detailed and accurate information on various types of cancer including nursing assessment, planning, and appropriate interventions. Provides indepth patient S&S and interventions that were not taught in nursing school!! Enables the RN to take a preventative approach to care of his/her clients. This book became my best friend as my cancer case load increased.

I have provided my research team with this reference book. We all have differing backgrounds and are responsible for abstracting medical records of cancer patients. Our credentials range from MD, RN, CTR, MIS. This book has been most useful to us all - in particular the Chemotherapy data. We hope there is a new edition in the works since therapy changes rapidly, in part we hope as the result of our data collection.

This book utilizes the science and physiology you possess from nursing school and your experiences in clinical practice to present concise, easy-to-reference text in a Q&A format. I also highly recommend the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing for anyone taking the OCN exam.

I've worked on a med-surg/oncology unit for a little more than a year now and this book has really helped me out, especially in regards to chemotherapy administration and side effects. It contains a wealth of information that I haven't been able to find anywhere else (from one source). There are chapters devoted to different types of cancers, as well as chapters on radiation, biotherapy, bone marrow transplants, and palliative care. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- perfect for oncology nurses!

This book was a great help to me as a family NP starting over in Hem/Onc! I did not have an oncology background, and it's very easy to understand, and answered many of the questions I have had in the field. I find it to be a good resource, and refer to it still.

This was a well written book which followed many personal stories of women through out history and their battle with cancer. It is a history book but was written dramatically and keeps the reader interested. It covers almost every topic concerning women and breast cancer. The only complaint is that the second half of the book is based more on the politics and legislation of breast cancer which becomes slightly repetitive and boring.

As a metastatic breast cancer patient, I found this book to be enormously enlightening. For the first time, I feel as though I really understand this disease and how we've gotten to this point in time in terms of prevailing attitudes, available treatments, doctor-patient relationships, and overall prognosis. Although it's a history lesson, this book has also served to give me a new perspective for evaluating my own personal options. I feel empowered by the information in these pages. It points out how deadly serious breast cancer is, even though some would have us believe otherwise. I recommend this book for everyone who is affected by breast cancer (which should be practically everyone).

James Olson is to be commended for writing this much needed history of breast cancer for the layman. My husband is a radiologist beginning a fellowship in breast imaging. He discovered this fascinating book and when he was finished I asked him to give it to me. Like the previous reviewer, I couldn't put it down. I don't have breast cancer, but I am of the age when many of my peers have developed this frightening disease. Olson is realistic, empathetic, and well informed. My favorite line came from former child star Shirley Temple Black who, rather than have a biopsy turn into a radical mastecomy, responded to the press by saying, "The surgeon will make the incision. I will make the decision." You can't read this book without having enormous respect for the women who did their own research, asked the right questions, and took on the conventional wisdom and arrogance of male physicians. At the same time, Olson is brutal on the hucksters and frauds who attempt to explain away cancer with psychobabble and unproveable theories. Bathseba's Breast is not an optimistic book, but it can be reassuring that slow, steady progress is being made in the battle against breast cancer.

My husband purchased this book for me after he heard the author on NPR. I could not put it down. The author's approach to looking at breast cancer over time, the changes in treatment options, and how accidental findings changed the course of medical treatment over time was illuminating. The book also raises the spectre as to how much of breast cancer treatment advances, or lack of, were the result of this being primarily but not exclusively a female disease. I do not have a formal medical background, so I was a little leary that it would be too technical. But instead, I found it to be highly readable and engaging. It also sends a strong message that from the beginning of time breast cancer held no one harmless. And in many ways, the key to the advances have come from patients taking their health destiny into their own hands and not simply accepting a physician's treatment recommendation. Certainly sheds light on the more recent discussions about the value of mammography as a diagnostic tool. Well worth reading!!

Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer & History by James Olson is a far-reaching examination of the dreaded disease of breast cancer. Impressive for its scope of historical, medical, political and personal references, the book transcends its obvious historical imperative by including much about living with hope in the face of adversity as well as dying without surrendering to the evil disease.

A cancer diagnosis today is not necessarily a death sentence. Olson explains how breast cancer has threatened all women, regardless of demography, since at least the time of the pharaohs and probably since creation of the species. The fifth of Olson's 11 carefully referenced chapters inaugurates the book's evolution of Hope for breast cancer sufferers, signaling with its title, "New Beginnings: Assault on the Radical Mastectomy." Make no mistake, neither the chapter nor the book reveal the silver bullet that will conquer breast cancer. However, from this point forward, Bathsheba's Breast explains how medical science has made progress against the disease - sometimes despite itself - and how that progress appeared to be accelerating at the end of the 20th century, albeit in tortuously slow steps for those fighting the disease. Increasingly credible optimism emerges as Olson explains the evolution of medicine's knowledge and attitudes about breast cancer, the birth of breast cancer patient advocacy and the growing arsenal of weapons that medical researchers, physicians and patients are bringing to the fight.

Olson is comprehensive, well organized and even entertaining in an appropriate tone for such a serious topic as he gives us the history, evolution and status of the war against breast cancer. Bathsheba's Breast is suitable for all readers, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or health. Its appeal to such a broad audience lies mainly in the mature tone and integrated style with which Olson approaches all aspects of the subject. It's also because he's deciphered cancer's jargon of "omas" and "ectomies" so they're understandable, both in definition and in context. Readers will be pleased how smoothly he combines history, complicated medical research, political science and public opinion with the personal stories of patients to produce a compelling read.

Faithful to the historigraphical method, the book ventures 3,500 years back to an Egyptian surgeon who wrote about "bulging tumors" in the breast for which "There is no treatment." Olson tells how Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, studied the nature and cause of cancer, attributing its cause to "black bile," one of his four theoretical fluids of the body: blood, phlegm, yellow and black bile. The book develops a special character as it links these ancients to women of subsequent history who suffered from breast cancer. We learn about victims like Theodora, wife of Justinian, the emperor of Byzantium in the sixth century, Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV in the 17th century, George Washington's mother in the 18th century, Abigail Adams, daughter of President John Adams in the 19th century and many sufferers in the 20th century. These personal experiences of breast cancer victims provide substantive information and welcomed inspiration for all readers, no doubt especially for those with the disease. Some stories are optimistic, others sad, some even humorous. Teddy Roosevelt's far-from-bashful, strong-willed daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, battled the disease throughout much of her life. She lost one breast to cancer in 1956 and in 1970, at age 86, underwent a second mastectomy on the other breast. Emerging from the second operation, she announced unashamedly she was "America's only topless octogenarian."

The 20th century's sexual revolution, catalyzed by nude photos of Marilyn Monroe and increasingly large monthly circulations of Hugh Hefner's "Playboy" magazine beginning in the 1950's, established the cult of the breast in America. Olson explains how big breasts became big business as society placed new value on them because of their erotic appeal. As America's fascination with the breast was exported around the world, women, men and physicians became more amenable to alternative treatments for breast cancer. Ironically, preoccupation with eroticism encouraged the pursuit of a cure.

Bathsheba's Breast adds credibility and emotion to the history of breast cancer by sharing experiences of many 20th century women who've fought the disease with bravery and hope. The legacy of Rose Kushner's 16-year battle against breast cancer and the indifference it often suffered from arrogant physicians and disinterested politicians is unforgettable. Her emotions flared - as do those of readers today - as we read about a surgeon shouting at her, "No patient is going to tell me how to do my surgery."

No doubt Kushner told that surgeon what she wrote in her best-selling, 1975 book, Breast Cancer, "We women should be free, knowledgeable, and completely conscious when the time comes for decision, so that we can make it for ourselves. Our lives are at stake, not a surgeon's." Kushner is the founder of the American breast cancer advocacy movement who battled valiantly but ultimately lost her war with the disease in January, 1990.

The evolution of breast cancer advocacy in America inspired by Rose Kushner is a compelling part of the book. Olson visits labs and legislatures to explain breast cancer's clinical and political issues, ranging from the campaign for lumpectomies and radiation instead of radical mastectomies as initial treatment alternatives to the need for greater government support for cancer research. He tells how Shirley Temple Black, Betty Ford, Happy Rockefeller, Betty Rollin, Jill Ireland, Linda McCartney, Dr. Jerri Nielsen and many others had the courage to go public with their battles against breast cancer, generating publicity that kept the disease in clinical and political focus.

Although Olson mentions it only quietly in a brief preface at the beginning of the book, his personal battle against cancer has permitted him to fuse Bathsheba's Breast with an empathy that's probably the ultimate reason why the book is as good as it is. It wastes no time with irrelevance as it moves seamlessly from history, medical science and politics to the media, pop culture and patients. The story of the battle against breast cancer is multi-faceted and James Olson shines a bright light on all of them.

This book is excellent. It is one of the few "layman's" books out there that actually present referenced scientific research for the public to truly understand. And the research involves an extremely important health aspect---why millions of people around the world are dying from cancer every year, and why most of them do not have to die if they take several grams of Vitamin C daily. Personally I recommend calcium ascorbate, because it's buffered, and it won't upset a person's stomach. I have taken the liberty of referencing a few sentences of Pauling and Cameron's work in the Cancer chapter of my book "The Failures of American Medicine"...

this is the book that explain not only the conection and the actions of vitamin c on cancer, but also explain the use of the chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the kinds of cancers that it is necessary, and in what kinds it is not.in all over the book there are many case histories that are covered and the explanations on how vitamin c is realy woking on all types of cancers, and why.the expirience of both,( the grate late two times nobel price winner:linus pauling), and the scotish-oncologist: ewan cameron,that in 10 years of therapy of thousands of patients make that book possible to be published.this is linus pauling's last book before he died in 8.19.1994 .in short and in general, it is realy a great book of a combination of a chemist, and an oncologist.i am recommended very much to every one.

Cameron and Pauling prove with clinical studies that large doses of Vitamin C taken over long periods of time are effective in controlling many cancers. Linus Pauling earned two Nobel Prizes. He deserved a third Nobel for this book.

Cameron and Pauling treated a large series of terminally ill cancer patients with massive doses of vitamin C. They saw significant increases in the life expectancy of these patients, including some complete remissions.

They gave a later group of terminally ill patients a broad spectrum of other vitamins and minerals with their vitamin C. These patients had even larger increases in life expectancy. Results were best with cancers of the reproductive system.

A Japanese study agrees with Cameron and Pauling but a Mayo Clinic study does not.

As a medical professional I have used this book to preform vitamin c therapy on cancer patients. Even A friend of mine was diagnosed with brain tumor and experienced a complete remission after following the guidelines in this book. Funny how the doctor who saved his life was severely reprimanded for performing vitamin c infusions.

I still don't believe it and neither did the neuro surgeons.

This book explains why the A.M.A. and how the A.M.A. discredits vitamin c trials and their results by pointing out the discrepancies in testing, misleading language, and a total lack of objectivity which should always be prevalent in any scientific discussion. Really, if a therapy is safe, cheap, and provides hope, what's the big objection?

A real eye opener! Extremely informative! A must for all cancer patients!