Site-Specific Cancer Series: Breast Cancer (2nd Ed.)

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Preface

Knowledge and progress regarding the prevention, early detection, treatment, and long-term needs of people diagnosed with breast cancer are ever-changing and expanding. Oncology nurses are constantly challenged to incorporate this knowledge into their care and to respond to questions about breast cancer. The importance of this role should not be underestimated. In 2009, the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation began to offer certification for the title of certified breast care nurse (CBCN^®), further supporting this specialized role. This second edition provides oncology nurses with current, comprehensive information about the care and needs of patients and families affected by breast cancer across the trajectory.

This book provides detailed information about the epidemiology, prevention, and early detection of breast cancer. This is a growing and sometimes controversial area of knowledge that often is influenced by public policy and requires the nurse to interpret this information to individuals in a meaningful way. Oncology nurses guide patients diagnosed with breast cancer through the diagnostic and treatment phases; therefore, the text provides detailed state-of-the-art information on diagnostic procedures, staging, pathophysiology, surgical approaches, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy. Because treatment of the entire person diagnosed with breast cancer is necessary to achieve an optimal outcome, the book includes information about symptom management, breast restoration, complementary medicine, psychosocial adjustment, and the role of the nurse navigator.

The first part of the book is organized to provide information across the cancer trajectory. This includes chapters on epidemiology, risk factors, prevention and early detection, pathophysiology and staging, surgical approaches, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy. This is followed by a chapter on symptom management, which provides detailed information about short- and long-term symptoms that may require intervention. Breast restoration can be an ongoing challenge in care, and an entire chapter is dedicated to the issues of breast restoration, both short and long term, regardless of the surgical approach. The chapter on psychosocial adjustment provides information for all phases of the breast cancer journey along with emerging data on complementary and alternative medicine.

This second edition provides new chapters on radiation therapy and the rapidly emerging role of nurse navigation not found in the first edition, as well as more detailed information about surgical approaches, systemic therapy, and complementary approaches. This textbook imparts the efforts of several breast cancer nursing experts to synthesize scientific information on care across the breast cancer trajectory. The authors of each chapter have carefully researched the literature and updated the content from the first edition. This information can be used to provide evidence-based knowledge in patient care to those affected by breast cancer.