Understanding Cancer: A Patient's Guide to Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment

The greatest need of anyone with cancer is to understand the disease―its diagnosis, treatment options, and the often devastating experience of having cancer. In Understanding Cancer, Dr. C. Norman Coleman explains how to gather information about treatments and how to interpret that information to make decisions. He helps the person with cancer prepare for visits to doctors and the hospital and to make those visits as productive as possible. He distills the often complex medical terms and concepts underlying the statistics and percentages used to characterize medical conditions. With clear, in-depth discussions of pretreatment staging of disease, the biology of cancer, how successful treatment is defined, and how best to manage one's time, Understanding Cancer helps people with cancer and their families become active participants in the decision-making process.

In the second edition of this highly respected guide, Dr. Coleman describes new treatments that target specific types of cancer as well as treatments that are designed for a particular individual. He discusses the era of molecular medicine, including biomarkers, novel imaging, molecular signatures and profiling, and molecular-targeted therapy. Many of these therapies are currently only available through a clinical trial, so Dr. Coleman includes a detailed discussion of what is involved in participating in research trials.

Compassionate, accessible, and informative, Understanding Cancer will increase the reader's knowledge of medical concepts and terms so the person with cancer, the family, and the health care team can work together efficiently―and effectively.

C. Norman Coleman, M.D., is associate director of the Radiation Oncology Sciences Program at the National Cancer Institute. He is a senior medical expert at the Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and author of over two hundred scientific papers. Understanding Cancer is independent of his work at the National Cancer Institute.