Synopses & Reviews
In this riveting narrative, Barron H. Lerner offers a superb medical and cultural history of our century-long battle with breast cancer. Revisiting the past, Lerner argues, can illuminate and clarify the dilemmas confronted by women with--and at risk for--the disease.
Writing with insight and compassion, Lerner tells a compelling story of influential surgeons, anxious patients and committed activists. There are colorful portraits of the leading figures, ranging from the acerbic Dr. William Halsted, who pioneered the disfiguring radical mastectomy at the turn of the century to George Crile, Jr., the Cleveland surgeon who shocked the medical establishment by "going public" with his doubts about mastectomy, to Rose Kushner, a brash journalist who relentlessly educated American women about breast cancer. Lerner offers a fascinating account of the breast cancer wars: the insistent efforts of physicians to vanquish the "enemy"; the fights waged by feminists and maverick doctors to combat a paternalistic legacy that discouraged decision-making by patients; and the struggles of statisticians and researchers to generate definitive data in the face of the great risks and uncertainties raised by the disease. As easy as it is to demonize male physicians, the persistence of the radical mastectomy and other invasive treatments has had as much to do with the complicated scientific understandings of breast cancer as with sexism.
In Lerner's hands, the fight against breast cancer opens a window on American medical practice over the last century: the pursuit of dramatic cures with sophisticated technologies, the emergence of patients' rights, the ethical and legal challenges raised by informed consent, and the limited ability of scientific knowledge to provide quick solutions for serious illnesses. A searching and profound work on an emotionally charged issue, The Breast Cancer Wars tells a story that remains of vital importance to modern breast cancer patients, their families and the clinicians who strive to treat and prevent this dreaded disease.
Review
"A detailed, colorful account of the people and events that shaped breast cancer treatment, mostly in the last half of the century.... The story of the quest to improve treatment is captivating and should interest students of medical history, consumer advocates and health professionals, among others. Most interesting is Lerner's determination to show how social and cultural forces shaped trends in treatment."--Los Angeles Times
"A fascinating, well-told tale with important lessons for scientists, clinicians, politicians, and patients."--The Lancet
"Sure to be controversial, this prodigiously researched medical and cultural history examines deeply held views on the treatment of breast cancer.... Provocative and highly engaging, Lerner's book presents an important contribution to medical history; moreover, he offers insights into areas that most books about breast health and disease do not probe."--Publishers Weekly
"Will be of great interest to medical professionals, advocates of breast-cancer research and awareness, and lay readers. Lerner has written an engaging narrative that is meticulously researched, well organized in its presentation, and immensely readable.... This book will be particularly valuable in the education of medical students."--The New England Journal of Medicine
"This wonderful book illustrates beautifully the evolution of breast cancer treatment, demonstrating how science is far from the only driver of medical change. Barron Lerner tells a riveting story full of politics, personalities and patients, making this one of the best books I have read in a long time."--Dr. Susan Love
"Barron Lerner has explored with brilliant even-handedness the century-long debates over the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Authoritative and clear concerning scientific matters, The Breast Cancer Wars is also first-class social and cultural history."--James Patterson, Bancroft Prize-winning author of Grand Expectations
"In The Breast Cancers Wars, Lerner presents a remarkably readable understanding of distinctly American attitudes toward the disease and the ways in which American culture and society have influence its treatment." -- Library Journal
"(Lerner) describes the inner world of professional prestige and group conformity... he also gives a very clear account of the clinical and theoretical aspects of breast cancer... he resists the temptation to look back in self-righteous scorn on an earlier time when the concept of the patient's autonomy would not have occurred to even the most enlightened of physicians."--Sherwin Nuland, New York Review of Books
About the Author
"Lerner, who teaches internal medicine, medical history and bioethics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, presents a thoroughly researched and deeply reflective history of breast cancer and the methods that have been employed to treat it."--Scientific American
"A detailed, colorful account of the people and events that shaped breast cancer treatment, mostly in the last half of the century.... The story of the quest to improve treatment is captivating and should interest students of medical history, consumer advocates and health professionals, among others. Most interesting is Lerner's determination to show how social and cultural forces shaped trends in treatment."--Los Angeles Times
"A fascinating, well-told tale with important lessons for scientists, clinicians, politicians, and patients."--The Lancet
"Will be of great interest to medical professionals, advocates of breast-cancer research and awareness, and lay readers. Lerner has written an engaging narrative that is meticulously researched, well organized in its presentation, and immensely readable.... This book will be particularly valuable in the education of medical students."--The New England Journal of Medicine
"Sure to be controversial, this prodigiously researched medical and cultural history examines deeply held views on the treatment of breast cancer.... Provocative and highly engaging, Lerner's book presents an important contribution to medical history; moreover, he offers insights into areas that most books about breast health and disease do not probe."--Publishers Weekly