The whole spectrum of the management of breast cancer from epidemiology to screening to diagnosis and treatment is covered by this text. It is in large parts excellent.
The authors state that multi-author texts have the disadvantage of giving neither a balanced nor a unified view. The advantage of a multi-author text, however, is that each section is written by an expert in that field and who is more likely to have a full knowledge of all the relevant literature. Two authors cannot know about all aspects of the treatment of breast cancer and this is reflected in some parts of the text which fail to give the balanced and unified view that the authors wished to achieve. This is particularly apparent in the discussion of the relationship of benign breast disease and breast cancer. Major references have been omitted. They leave the reader with the view that large numbers of women with benign disease are at increased risk of breast cancer. This is now known not to be the case. Other omissions are the absence of the Peto overview when dealing with adjuvant oophorectomy. There are also a number of errors in the text and references.The errors include three in a single table. These problems can, however, be sorted in the next edition.
Apart from these problems, the authors have provided a comprehensive and well referenced overview of the management of breast cancer and I think it is a useful addition to the literature. I found it very useful for preparing talks and it is a book that can be recommended to all associated with patients with breast cancer.