Book Review
Cancer MedicineEncyclopedia of Cancer
N Engl J Med 1997; 336:1192April 17, 1997
- Article
Cancer Medicine
Fourth edition. Edited by James F. Holland, Robert C. Bast, Jr., Donald L. Morton, Emil Frei III, Donald W. Kufe, and Ralph R. Weichselbaum. 3386 pp. in two volumes, illustrated. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1996. $229. ISBN: 0-683-04095-2Encyclopedia of Cancer
Edited by Joseph R. Bertino. 2134 pp. San Diego, Calif., Academic Press, 1996. $475. ISBN: 0-12-093230-XProgress in molecular and cellular biology increasingly influences research on cancer medicine. Advances in recent years have produced powerful new methods of diagnosing and treating malignant diseases. New techniques, such as in situ hybridization and the polymerase chain reaction, are now routinely used in diagnosis. A plethora of new genes involved in the suppression or promotion of tumor-cell growth have been identified and cloned. Monoclonal antibodies have allowed more than 200 cluster determinants on nucleated blood cells to be identified, making a substantial contribution to the characterization of novel cytokines and their receptors. One consequence of all this is that physicians are challenged to keep abreast of developments that profoundly affect the modern practice of medicine.
The rapid expansion of new knowledge in the field of hematology and oncology is reflected in the publication of these two massive new textbooks. The fourth edition of Cancer Medicine, which first appeared in 1973 (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger), replaces the 1993 edition (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger) after just three years. The editors have added seven new chapters on current issues, such as gene therapy and vascular access. Many of the 45 sections have been rewritten and updated by a total of 345 experts in the field, mostly Americans. The chapters, most of them well written and concise, are annotated with citations up to 1996. They cover all important aspects of the field comprehensively. In contrast to many similar books, Cancer Medicine includes color photographs, although some do not live up to the quality of the text. Bearing in mind that even textbooks this large cannot incorporate all pieces of information, one can only congratulate the editors on a very sound piece of work. Cancer Medicine does not fall short of its most prominent rival, V. DeVita, S. Hellman, and S. Rosenberg's Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology (5th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott–Raven, 1997), the new edition of which has more than 3300 pages and color photographs.
Encyclopedia of Cancer is a huge (2134-page) and expensive ($475) new textbook of both experimental and clinical oncology. The editor, Joseph R. Bertino, assisted by 14 editorial advisors and 297 international authors, has created a comprehensive summary of cancer research that covers aspects of epidemiology, etiology, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, as well as novel treatment strategies such as immunotherapy and gene therapy. This three-volume encyclopedia contains 163 original articles covering many interesting new aspects of cancer research. Even though completing it has taken more than two years, many chapters are based on very new data, most of them published between 1992 and 1995. In a field developing as rapidly as cancer research, this contributes substantially to a comprehensive and current encyclopedia.
Although most chapters are carefully written, Encyclopedia of Cancer suffers from problems similar to those of many other textbooks of this size: heterogeneity and redundancy. It has eight articles on the possible clinical applications of monoclonal antibodies and their variants, but a chapter on the most likely clinical application of these “magic bullets” — that is, in treating minimal residual disease — is missing. One would have wished to find discussions of other issues, such as cellular immunotherapy, the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells, and vascular targeting (which could have followed the very good chapter on “tumor oxygenation” had the editors not changed the thematic organization they originally planned). The book generally contains far too few references. For a chapter like the one on tumor and differentiation antigens to cite only two papers is inappropriate, even if it cites review articles. The title of the book is misleading; Encyclopedia of Cancer Research would have been more appropriate and might have allowed a more stringent focus. Despite these criticisms, we recommend Encyclopedia of Cancer for those seeking competent, high-quality reviews of many current aspects of cancer research.
Volker Diehl, M.D.
Andreas Engert, M.D.
University of Cologne, D-50924 Cologne, Germany- Citing Articles (1)
Citing Articles
1
FRANZ HALBERG, GERMAINE CORNÉLISSEN, JULIA HALBERG, HENRY FINK, CHEN-HUAN CHEN, KUNIAKI OTSUKA, YOSHIHIKO WATANABE, YUJI KUMAGAI, ELENA V. SYUTKINA, TERUKAZU KAWASAKI, KEIKO UEZONO, ZIYAN ZHAO, OTHILD SCHWARTZKOPFF. (1998) Circadian Hyper-Amplitude-Tension (CHAT): A Disease Risk Syndrome of Anti-Aging Medicine. Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine 1:3, 239-259
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