The second section addresses the diagnosis and treatment of benign breast diseases, beginning with a short chapter on how to perform a breast exam. The next 15 sections are dedicated to exploring the many aspects of breast cancer. The first in this series discusses the epidemiology of breast cancer, including non-genetic and genetic factors. This section also contains information on family history of breast cancer , including a chapter on prophylactic mastectomy and a chapter on chemoprevention. Another section addresses the pathogenesis of breast cancer, providing chapters on oncogenes and suppressor genes, animal models, in vitro models, and control of invasion and metastasis.
Further sections discuss in situ carcinoma, staging, and pathology of invasive breast cancer.
An important section follows this on primary treatment of invasive breast cancer. It contains chapters on surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. This treatment section is followed by sections on therapeutic problems, managing recurrent breast cancer, new therapies, and a lengthy section explaining numerous site-specific therapies of metastatic breast cancer. The last four sections discuss varied and interesting topics. For instance, there is a section devoted to breast cancer found in special populations, such as older women and minority women.