Once, women with breast cancer were routinely advised to have a radical mastectomy (removal of the breast and lymph nodes under the arm). But 18 years ago, Dr. Bernard Fisher of the University of Pittsburgh began a pioneering study in many hospitals simultaneously. The research compared two treatments for early cancer. One was radical mastectomy. [...]

Feeling short of breath basically means that you are not getting enough oxygen into your blood. This could be because there is something wrong with the lung tissue itself—cancer in the lung, clots on the lung, pneumonia, radiation reaction, lung damage caused by bleomycin, or fluid building up in the lung because your heart is [...]

Smoking If you are a heavy smoker and have not been able to cut down or stop altogether, you will be advised not to smoke in the hours before your operation. It is, of course, much better to stop smoking some months before surgery. The carbon monoxide contained in cigarette smoke poisons the blood by [...]