Cancer Prevention and Early Diagnosis in Women

ISBN: 0323013473

Author: Manetta MD, Alberto

Condition: New

Product Description This resource prepares health care providers in all specialties related to women's health to assess cancer risks in their patients, offer contemporary advice on prevention, and prescribe appropriate screening tests for early diagnosis. It provides practical guidance for the clinical setting, based on the latest scientific evidence. Coverage includes the principles of cancer screening, the most common cancer sites, the ethical and legal implications of genetic testing, and an evidence-based analysis of complementary therapies in cancer prevention.Provides comprehensive coverage of cancer screening, including principles and terms that are common to the various cancers and screening strategies the benefits and risks of screening and systematic methods for evaluating screening programs.Devotes individual chapters to nine of the most common cancer types (lung, breast, colorectal, skin, cervical, vaginal, vulvar, ovarian, uterine corpus), addressing incidence and mortality risk factors such as age, geographic location, genetic/familial history, social/ethnic background, and personal health history, including the effects of HRT, HPV, tamoxifen, smoking, and more and methods for prevention, early detection, and diagnosis.Explores the uses and limitations of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility, and provides an ethical framework for confronting the emerging ethical, legal, and social concerns associated with this screening method.Presents an evidence-based analysis of the anti-carcinogenic potential of a range of complementary and alternative therapies, both in general and in relation to specific cancers, using a well defined literature review methodology and working definition of complementary and alternative medicine.With 17 additional contributors From The New England Journal of Medicine Reviews of progress in the 30-year "war on cancer" have been mixed. Yes, the incidence and death rates of cancer have been declining for the past decade. But these trends pale in comparison with the dramatic declines for heart disease and stroke. If current trends continue, cancer is expected to be the leading cause of death in the United States by 2010. What is most disconcerting is that this would not have to be the case if only we put into practice what we already know about the prevention and early detection of cancer. With this as the challenge, Dr. Alberto Manetta presents Cancer Prevention and Early Diagnosis in Women in order to "furnish health care providers with the information needed for the assessment of risk, prevention, and early diagnosis of cancer in women." He has brought together 17 authors with expertise in the etiology, prevention, and early detection of cancer. Each of the major cancers that afflict women -- lung, breast, colorectal, and skin -- is covered, with special emphasis on gynecologic cancers (i.e., cervical, vaginal, vulvar, ovarian, and uterine). Additional chapters address the intersecting issues of screening and genetic testing for cancer as well as the role of complementary therapies in its prevention. This book is well organized, and each of the 12 chapters is cogent and extensively referenced. The writing style is conversational and encourages one to read each chapter from start to finish. For example, the chapter on lung cancer appropriately includes an extensive discussion of the prevention and cessation of smoking. The chapter on genetic testing is balanced and includes a provocative discussion of the legal and ethical implications of screening, covering issues of informed consent, medical privacy, and psychosocial risks. Despite its strengths, the book suffers from a lack of consensus on screening guidelines, with some authors citing the American Cancer Society guidelines and others providing screening recommendations without attribution. This lack of consensus will propagate confusion among practitioners, who are left to decide which guidelines best suit their