Keeping Abreast of Developments in the Cancer Wars: A View From the Front

Cancer somehow lends itself to military analogies, perhaps because of its status as a threat to life itself. We've declared war on cancer over several decades, viewing cancer as a cell going rogue, dividing uncontrollably, and ultimately breaking through local boundaries to spread. Less well known, but critically relevant to the health care impact of questioning authority, is the war within the breast cancer management community, among those studying molecular and cellular targets in breast cancer biology and those managing the human targets that represent cancer's toll. This article outlines current concepts and controversies about breast cancer, presenting a bio/sociological basis and a mental toolkit for thinking about and coping with this conflict.