BOOK REVIEW

Current Therapy in Cancer, 2nd Edition

John F. Foley, Julie M. Vose, James O. Armitage. Philadelphia (PA): W. B. Saunders Co., 1999. 576 pp., illus. $89. ISBN 0-7216-7548-4

Usha Sunkara

Correspondence to: Usha Sunkara, M.D., Division of Medical Oncology, The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Bunting–Blaustein Cancer Research Bldg., 1650 Orleans St., Baltimore, MD 21231-1000.

For a wide range of physicians and other health-care professionals, the second edition of Current Therapy in Cancer offers a concise and portable read of the work-up and treatment of the major solid and hematologic malignancies. Each disease entity is logically approached and begins with an overview of its epidemiology, genetics, and prevention. The diagnosis, staging, and pathology of each tumor type are next delineated. An elaboration of the principles of therapy and of the results of randomized clinical trials concludes each chapter. The dosing schedules of different regimens are occasionally provided. The chapters are articulate, current, and adequately referenced.

The role of stem cell transplantation for the treatment of various lymphomas and leukemias is a large section that is thoughtfully presented. The more recent advances in chemotherapy are explained, with the following agents discussed: paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, topotecan, CPT-11, vinorelbine, rituximab, and mitoxantrone. A section on thymic cancers is somewhat unexpected but appreciated.

Well over 100 contributors are credited with this text’s achievements. As the second edition, the book builds on its 1995 predecessor, with several new chapters added. A section on the greater specificity and goals of targeted antisense and antibody therapies is thoughtfully presented. Another section, addressing the many complications of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell transplantation, is quite tailored, although at times somewhat brief. Other new topics include mantle cell lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and Wilms’ tumor.

Perhaps with the next edition, a more thorough discussion of diseases, such as small-cell lung cancer and carcinomas of unknown primary, will be available; yet, it seems that the goal of this text is to be accessible, not encyclopedic. The aim is well realized.


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