About This Booklet
This National Cancer Institute (NCI) booklet (NIH Publication No. 09-1556) is about cancer of the breast. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States (other than skin cancer). In 2012, about 227,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer also develops in men. In 2012, about 2,200 men in this country will learn they have breast cancer.
Although most information in this booklet applies to both women and men with breast cancer, you can get more specific information about breast cancer in men on the NCI Web site at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast and from the NCI Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
This booklet tells about diagnosis, treatment choices by stage, breast reconstruction, and follow-up care. It also describes how to take part in research studies. Learning about medical care for breast cancer can help you take an active part in making choices about your care.
This booklet has lists of questions that you may want to ask your doctor. Many people find it helpful to take a list of questions to a doctor visit. To help remember what your doctor says, you may want to take notes. You may also want to have a family member or friend go with you when you talk with the doctor--to take notes, ask questions, or just listen.
This text may be reproduced or reused freely. Please credit the National Cancer Institute as the source. Any graphics may be owned by the artist or publisher who created them, and permission may be needed for their reuse.
