Cancer Each year, over a million people in the US will hear those dreaded words, and most don't know where to even begin. This book, written by a cancer specialist, takes the cancer patient or caregiver step-by-step through the process of diagnosis, staging, and treatment, explaining what he needs to know in an easy-to-read question and answer format. But this book goes beyond the basics to addresses sensitive topics that most patients would like to ask their doctor but rarely feel comfortable with, such as the cost of medical care, cancer pain, suicide, death, how to get a second opinion and how to sue your doctor. It is a must-read for anyone who is newly-diagnosed with any type of cancer, including breast cancer, colon and rectal cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, leukemia and lymphoma. It will provide the reader with a better understanding of cancer as a disease, how it is viewed by his doctor, and how that viewpoint influences treatment decisions.


Dr. Westbrook, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist who specializes in the treatment of all types of adult cancers. Her career spans over twenty-five years and includes faculty appointments in the medical schools at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and Boston University, where she taught, did cancer research, and treated patients. Extremely knowledgeable about the science of cancer, she is the author of over 100 scholarly articles, and holds one patent for leukemia diagnosis. Now in full-time clinical practice, she is currently a medical oncologist at Geisinger Cancer Institute in Wilkes-Barre, PA. She resides with her husband in Beverly Shores, IN and in Wilkes-Barre, PA.