Mammography and Early Breast Cancer Detection - (McFarland Health Topics) by Alan B Hollingsworth (Paperback)

About the Book

Early detection of breast cancer is critical. Yet efforts to cut back on mammography or even stop screening altogether have been gaining ground in the medical community's decades-long debate over testing and treatment. It is not a purely scientific debate--back-room politics and hidden agendas have played as much a role as clinical data, leading to some surprising conclusions.
Written by one of the first physicians in the country to specialize in breast cancer risk assessment, genetic testing and high-risk interventions, this book focuses on the screening controversy and explains the arguments used on both sides. The author covers the history of screening, from the first mobile unit on the streets of Manhattan to the cutting edge imaging technology of today.

Book Synopsis

Early detection of breast cancer is critical. Yet efforts to cut back on mammography or even stop screening altogether have been gaining ground in the medical community's decades-long debate over testing and treatment. It is not a purely scientific debate--back-room politics and hidden agendas have played as much a role as clinical data, leading to some surprising conclusions.

Written by one of the first physicians in the country to specialize in breast cancer risk assessment, genetic testing and high-risk interventions, this book focuses on the screening controversy and explains the arguments used on both sides. The author covers the history of screening, from the first mobile unit on the streets of Manhattan to the cutting edge imaging technology of today.

Review Quotes

"detailed, clearly written chapters...the author...uses his expertise and current findings to convince readers that screening is still worth it. There are an abundance of 'less-is-more' resources available on this subject; however, Hollingsworth's confident, accessible argument against such a philosophy provides a welcome look at another option"-Library Journal; "Hollingworth provides some fascinating insight into how the medical establishment's thinking on mammograms...will be helpful to those who are undecided about the efficacy of screening mammograms...intriguing book for a public library to consider for readers looking to delve deeper into the history of yellow fever through first-hand accounts"-Watermark Review; "What a prodigious accomplishment! My congratulations to Dr. Hollingsworth!"-Stephen Feig, M.D.

About the Author

Alan B. Hollingsworth, M.D., serves as medical director of Mercy Breast Center, a screening and diagnostic facility at Mercy Hospital, Oklahoma City. He received his MD with Distinction from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in 1975 where he was elected First vice-president of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed a residency in general surgery at the University of Oklahoma that included a one-year fellowship in surgical pathology at UCLA. He limited his practice to breast cancer surgery in the 1980s and was the founding medical director of Oklahoma's first multidisciplinary breast clinic at his alma mater where he was also named as the first holder of the G. Rainey Williams Chair in Surgical Breast Oncology. He was one of the first physicians in the country to begin a formal risk assessment program in 1993, and today his practice is limited to risk assessment, genetic testing, and multimodality screening for high-risk patients.