Breast cancer--a woman's perspective

This paper is bound to arouse controversy. It already has. No article in this special issue has been more thoroughly reviewed or had more widely divergent opinions. Some reviewers thought it expressed unrelieved anger; others felt it described the experience, perceptions, and feelings of many women with breast cancer. The paper seemed important to publish, however, because breast cancer is the second most common tumor occurring in American women. It is important to note that the author is a successful teacher and health professional who has a full and active family and social life. She describes encounters with breast cancer in an uncommonly fervent and articulate way. These encounters have clearly left deep scars. The essay is not scientific and not balanced in this issue by a paper by a women who had a wonderful experience with breast cancer. Such a paper may never be written. Read on!