Eric A. Strom – författare

I am honored to write the Foreword for this first volume of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Care series, because I believe the book represents a milestone not only for M. D. Anderson but also for cancer specialists everywhere. All of us, whether we work in academic medical institu­ tions, medical school hospitals, community hospitals, oncology clinics, or solo practice, have seen remarkable changes in our practice over the recent decades. We know that breast cancer patients live longer, feel better, and look better than ever before, and they face this dreaded disease with more optimism than ever before. Each of us deserves to be proud of this progress. Though I am now primarily a laboratory scientist and admin­ istrator, I am proud of my own work on factors that control the growth of tumor cells, most prominently through regulation of EGF receptors and HER-2/neu, and the promise that work holds for women who have breast cancer. The authors represented in this volume have made important contri­ butions to breast cancer care. Likewise, every reader of this book has and will continue to make critical contributions to the health of women with breast cancer. I would like to express the hope here that each of us takes the opportunity to step outside our subspecialties-surgeon, internist, radiation oncologist, pathologist, radiologist, laboratory scientist-and learn how we can better integrate our work with that of other specialists.

This second edition of Breast Cancer continues the tradition of the M. D. Anderson Cancer Care Series. The book is oriented towards the needs of clinicians who manage breast cancer at every stage of the disease. Ch- ters are written by experts with a strong knowledge of research findings who also are active in the clinic and understand the practical needs of the patient and her physician. Multidisciplinary care is a popular term today, but such care has been practiced at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for decades. The physicians who assembled this book are experienced practitioners of multidiscip- nary care. The authors of each chapter carry out their clinical activities at our Nellie B. Connally Breast Center, where they collaborate in providing complete patient care services at a single site. The chapters start, logically, with prevention of breast cancer and p- sonalized risk assessment, including genetics. These topics are followed by chapters on early detection, with emphasis on a variety of sophis- cated imaging techniques and sampling of tissue. The various surgical options, including reconstruction, are thoroughly presented. Before me- cal oncology is introduced there are chapters dealing with the growing use of markers to predict prognosis and to select hormonal or chemoth- apy treatments that are likely to succeed. The book concludes with issues related to survivorship, including re-entering social and job-related acti- ties and dealing with questions related to sexuality and reproduction.