Every twelve minutes an American woman dies from breast cancer, and an additional four patients are told they have the disease. Second only to lung cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths in women overall, it is number one among cancer deaths in women aged 35–54 and the second in women aged 55–74. Putting into perspective the stark reality of breast cancer and the chances of surviving it, this work is a layperson's guide to the disease. Chapters cover the scope of the problem, the causes of breast cancer, how it begins, grows and spreads, and how it looks under the pathologist's microscope (illustrations are provided). Also supplied is information on mammograms and their role in prevention, and on genetics, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, web sites and the improvements one may expect in the near future and those possible in the distant future.