Bland KI and Copeland EM:

The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Disorders (2 volume set) (3rd ed), 1694 pp, Philadelphia, WB Saunders, 2004 ($249).

The third edition of this leading multidisciplinary textbook of breast diseases stands out from the other books dealing with the same topic; it is unique in that it seamlessly integrates the accomplishments of contemporary basic sciences with the advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment of breast diseases.

This two-volume book contains 23 sections and 87 chapters written by the best-known experts in the field. The first two sections deal with history of breast cancer therapy and anatomy and physiology of normal breast. Sections III, IV and V discuss pathology and clinical aspects of benign and premalignant breast lesions. The following five sections (VI–X) deal thoroughly with all aspects of breast cancer, including pathology, epidemiology, genetics, staging, prognostic factors and molecular biology. Sections XI and XII discuss the current screening and diagnostic techniques and biostatistical applications in clinical trials. Sections XIII–XVI provide informations on the current breast surgeries and complications. Section XVI is of particular interest to me because it provides useful informations on current concepts and management of early breast carcinoma, including management of ductal carcinoma in situ, lobular carcinoma in situ, axillary lymph node micrometastasis and etc. Additional sections (XVII–XX) address the current radiation therapy, adjuvant systemic therapy, management of advanced local and regional disease and management of systemic disease. Special presentations of breast cancer, follow-up and rehabilitation of breast cancer patients are discussed in Sections XXI and XXII. The last section presents a very interesting and important topic—the medical and legal issues specific to the care of breast cancer.

The readers of all profiles should be grateful to the editors, as well as the contributors, for this highly readable, well balanced and most useful encyclopedic text. Undoubtedly, it remains the leading and the most authoritative book in the arena of breast diseases. Thus, I am almost reluctant to express my regrets that such a wonderful book does not use color pictures, and that some of the histology pictures are blurry and indistinct. These minor critical remarks should, nevertheless, not detract from the overall quality of the text, which is simply stated superb. Basic science and clinical researchers, pathologists, radiologists, oncologists and surgeons, and all other physicians interested in breast disease should benefit from this book.