Chromosomal Variation in Man: A Catalog of Chromosomal Variants and Anomalies. 2nd Edition

Female breast cancer remains one of the major problems in medical practice because the physician lacks understanding of the etiology and, in the absence of such information, resorts to therapy that may be inadequate in some patients. This volume summarizes in almost abstract form, papers delivered at an international conference in mid-1976. It is timely and represents diverse viewpoints from many countries regarding controversial areas of management of women with breast cancer. The brief reports cannot be considered to be exhaustive examinations of any of the topics discussed and include, for example, only minimal references to background material that is germane. This book, therefore, will probably appeal more to the practicing physician or the sophisticated physician-in-training than the medical student who seeks complete basic information important to the learning process. International meetings so often suffer from slow dissemination of information to those who did not attend the meeting in person. Late publication results in important material not being available for application to clinical practice until years sometimes have passed. The publishers of this book, which is the twelfth volume of a wide ranging series of publications titled Progress in Clinical and Biological Research, are to be commended for prompt publication of the proceedings. Credit for promptness is in part due to choice of photo offset reproduction which eliminates time consuming and expensive typesetting, etc. This tends to keep the cost to the reader down to a reasonable level, an important consideration in this age of expensive books. No earth shattering "break-throughs" are covered here, but a lot of up-to-date information has been assembled in a convenient and easily readable format and I encourage anyone dealing with breast cancer to read it.