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Barbara Nickles and Ligia Toro de Stefani are both women in their early 60s who were diagnosed with abnormal cells in a breast, or Stage 0 breast cancer, as it’s sometimes labeled. Nickles decided to have a double mastectomy. Toro de Stefani opted for “active surveillance” and a twice-yearly battery of tests. “I wish I had breasts, but I am also happy they are gone so that I don’t have to worry so much about breast cancer,” says Nickles, whose grandmother had the disease. “Quality of life is the most important thing to me,” says Toro de Stefani, an avid traveler and scuba diver. (McGinley, 4/29)

Steven Katz, an internist at the University Michigan, researches how medical decisions are made. Over the last dozen years, he has surveyed 10,000 patients and their doctors to better understand how they discuss a diagnosis and decide to proceed. “Women have taught me a lot,” says Katz. Sorting out various options can be “very confusing and very tough.” He has distilled what he has learned and offers the following suggestions for women suddenly confronted with breast cancer. More than a quarter-million women in the United States are diagnosed with the disease every year. (McGinley, 4/29)