"The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book" is a trusted resource designed to help you understand breast cancer, make informed decisions about your care, and cope with the emotional and physical effects of diagnosis and treatment.

I know that many readers look for good resources and trusted information. This is one of the resources I use on a regular basis when working with women diagnosed with breast cancer.

The book is designed to demystify breast cancer and give you step by step, practical guidance and tools for what to do if you have a diagnosis of breast cancer.

The book's medical co-editors are renowned experts Charles L. Loprinzi, M.D., a breast cancer and oncology specialist, and Lynn C. Hartmann, M.D., a breast oncologist and researcher — both from the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center.

Weaving in personal stories from breast cancer patients and survivors, "The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book" is organized into three parts:

• Part 1 includes an overview of cancer in general: What it is, how it develops and how it spreads.
• Part 2 looks specifically at breast cancer and provides a broad discussion of the disease, from risk and prevention to the latest technologies in diagnosis and treatment. Included in this section are decision guides to help decide on the best treatment option based on your circumstances.
• Part 3 focuses on strategies for dealing with the emotional, social, spiritual and physical challenges that accompany cancer treatment and survivorship.

The Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Book ($22.95/softcover, 432 pages) is available wherever books are sold, beginning on Oct. 1, 2012. If you order from the Mayo Clinic Store (http://www.store.mayoclinic.com/) you can get a discount of 20 percent by entering the code SAVE20 when you check out. Mayo Clinic's proceeds from the book will support medical education and research at Mayo.