Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment
(Johns Hopkins University Press, January 2008)
Edited by Kenneth D. Miller, M.D. ~ Director, Yale Cancer Center Survivorship Program
For Immediate Release
Date: 01/08
Contact: Leslie Wolfe Arista, (617) 713-4130 or leswolfe@mediabuzzpub.com
New Breast Cancer Bible Offers Guidance from Specialists and Survivors
Unlike medical conditions for which there is a single recommended therapy, like appendicitis or diabetes, breast cancer has many treatment options. Women are involved in making numerous decisions about their treatment plans. It can be confusing and overwhelming to have to navigate the complexities of treatment choices -- especially while in the throws of fear or sadness.
How then can a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient meet the emotional and intellectual challenge of learning all about her condition, understanding her treatment options and making sound decisions about them -- in the few weeks allotted her?
Oncologist Kenneth D. Miller, Director of the Yale Cancer Center Survivorship Program, has written a new book, Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment, providing women with information, insight and guidance that will enable them to make the best choices for themselves. “Different women make different wise choices,” he says. “Age, faith, work, temperament, general health, support networks, family structure, obligations and values all influence the directions they take.”
The book is much more than a standard reference guide containing the latest facts on breast cancer and its treatments. It offers a rare blend of medical expertise in the form of written contributions from specialists in the field (gynecologists, surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, plastic surgeons, nurses and psychotherapists) who speak both personally and professionally, and compelling personal narratives by survivors who have been there. This makes a powerful combination that will, along with the author’s candid and heartfelt commentary, arm readers with knowledge, confidence and hope as they begin their journeys.
Every important breast cancer topic is covered, including risk factors, screening, genetic testing, prevention, diagnostic methods, cancer staging (TNM), doctor/patient relationships, assembling a treatment team, surgical treatments (lumpectomy & mastectomy), adjuvant treatments (chemo, hormone & radiation therapies), breast reconstruction and clinical trials. Treatment options are presented from four perspectives: women without cancer but who are at higher than average risk, women with non-invasive cancer, women with invasive cancer and women with metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread outside the breast).
The book is intended to both educate and comfort the new patient (and her family) who is faced with making hard decisions from a place of extreme vulnerability. Miller is not unfamiliar with the agony of choice -- his wife has acute leukemia, one of his daughters was born deaf and another daughter has a congenital disorder for which brain surgery was a treatment option. Personal experience made him realize something that profoundly impacted his patient care; there is not one right way to go from sickness to health -- there are many right ways.
This philosophy is beautifully conveyed in the book which offers a solid foundation of vital information and real life experiences upon which each woman can build a treatment plan that is right for her - according to her individual needs. Miller says, “Making these treatment choices can be empowering in many ways and can be the beginning of the healing process.” One hopes women will take this wise and caring doctor’s book in hand and let the healing begin.
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Kenneth D. Miller, M.D.
Dr. Miller is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale-New Haven Medical School in the Section of Medical Oncology. He has focused his career on caring for women with breast cancer and developing improved supportive care services for cancer patients. He is the Director of the Connecticut Challenge Survivorship Clinic and of the Supportive Care Program at Yale Cancer Center and is working to develop innovative clinical programs for both inpatient and outpatient settings. Dr. Miller is a recipient of the Physician Recognition Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. He has been an invited speaker on cancer survivorship issues at cancer centers around the country. A graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine, Dr. Miller completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Yale-New Haven Hospital and trained in Medical Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center, focusing on breast cancer treatment. He joined the Yale Faculty in Medical Oncology two years ago.
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A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book/January 2008
6 x 9, 288 pp., 20 halftones, 27 line drawings
978-0-8018-8684-3 0-8018-8684-8 $45.00(s) / £30.00 hc
978-0-8018-8685-0 0-8018-8685-6 $18.95 / £12.50 pb
Available in bookstores and online through Amazon.co