ISBN: 0-88258-251-8

 $26.95

 256 pages; 6 x 9 cloth

 Featured in the July 2005

 issue of JMNA 

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In this insightful and instructive autobiography, Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr.—renowned surgeon, oncologist, professor, and medical spokesman—chronicles a life of outstanding service and scholarship.  Raised in the Depression-era South, Dr. Leffall was driven to triumph over Jim Crow and other artificial barriers.  “With a good education and hard work, combined with honesty and integrity,” he recalls his father repeating, “there are no boundaries.”  Young Leffall was later influenced by legendary Howard University College of Medicine physician-scholars like blood preservation pioneer Charles R. Drew and Burke Syphax to view surgery as the only path to follow. 

During a career spanning more than fifty years and nearly every continent, Dr. Leffall has taught thousands of medical students and hundreds of surgeons.  He has held numerous high-level positions in surgical and cancer-related organizations, serving as the first African-American president of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society.  At the latter, he focused national attention on the disturbing disparities between blacks and whites in cancer prevalence, treatment, and mortality. 

As the current board chair of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, renowned for its “Race for the Cure,” he stresses the need for early detection and treatment of breast cancer.  Working with cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong on the President’s Cancer Panel, which he also chairs, Dr. Leffall focuses on ethical issues related to cancer survivorship.

No Boundaries provides LaSalle Leffall with yet another forum for discussing the challenges and promises facing physicians, researchers, policymakers, and patients in their quest to control and ultimately eliminate cancer.  It also illuminates his unwavering commitment to his profession’s creed: to place patients first.

“With all the progress we have made in cancer treatment and research during my long career, I still remind myself every single day that my primary responsibility is to help every patient I see, to tell her or him the truth—with sensitivity and compassion—and to always hold out hope for success….When you give people hope…you grant them one of the greatest of all human joys: the joy of anticipation.”

Along with his teaching and organizational duties, Dr. Leffall maintains a busy private practice, seeing hundreds of patients each month.  He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife Ruthie.

 Advance Comments

 “The story of Dr. Leffall’s distinguished career should encourage and lift you to believe it is possible to make a difference through hard work, dedicated service, and integrity.”

—Nancy G. Brinker, Founder, Susan G. Komen Foundation

“It’s been an honor for Barbara and me to get to know LaSalle through our mutual association with a cancer group called ‘C-Change.’  His leadership—strong, quiet, steady—has inspired us all to do more to conquer cancer.  His friendship has meant even more.  He is a role model for all generations, but especially for young people still trying to figure out how to make a difference.  LaSalle certainly has.”

—George H. W. Bush, 41^st President of the United States

“The odyssey of LaSalle Leffall—one of America’s greatest physicians, medical educators, and cancer surgeons—is prize reading for all of those who love America at her best.  Dr. Leffall overcame America at her worst—growing up in the South during segregation and discrimination—to become one of her best: one who recognizes no boundaries.

—David Satcher, MD, PhD; Interim President, Morehouse School of Medicine; 16^th U.S. Surgeon General

"An outstanding account of a most impressive career as a role model, brilliant surgeon, tireless leader, and champion for smoking cessation in the African American community."

—Joseph A. Califano Jr., Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; Chairman and President, National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse

“No Boundaries is instructive, inspiring, compelling.  It is consistent with the excellence, perseverance, and commitment that define Dr. Leffall's incredible life and work.”

—Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co. LLC; Author, Vernon Can Read!

“Dr. Leffall is a true champion in the fight against cancer.  His admirable service to people with cancer exemplifies the power of compassion and wisdom -- and the necessity of delivering good medicine with a healthy dose of hope.”

—Lance Armstrong, internationally acclaimed cyclist, seven-time winner of the Tour de France, and cancer survivor

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