Author Wendi Fox Pedicone introduces her new book, Hanging Out with Lab Coats: Hope, Humor and Help for Cancer Patients and Their Patients, and provides excerpts, as part of the Imaginis.com "Invited Article" series. Diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2004, Ms. Pedicone had no known risk factors and did not perform monthly breast self-exams. Her tumor was found during an annual clinical exam offered at her workplace. Part resource, part memoir, Ms. Pedicone's book takes cancer patients, survivors, and caretakers on a captivating journey of self-discovery and hope.

Herceptin is a drug used to treat some women with advanced breast cancer whose cancer has spread to other areas of the body. Approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1998, Herceptin has shown great promise in increasing patient survival time and reducing the number of deaths from advanced breast cancer. Clinical trials are also investigating whether Herceptin is helpful for women with early-stage breast cancer. In 2005, the National Cancer Institute announced the results of two clinical trials of Herceptin which showed that the drug can offer potentially life-saving treatment to some breast cancer patients. This article provides the latest information on Herceptin.