Early gastric cancer. Proceedings of the second BSG. SK & F. International Workshop 1981. Dr P. B. Cotton. 235 × 160 mm. Pp. 83. Illustrated. 1982. Welwyn Garden City: Smith Kline & French. Free.
✍ Scribed by T. Kennedy
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1983
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 343 KB
- Volume
- 70
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0007-1323
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
THIS book, the first in a series, comprises reviews dealing with current management of hormone responsive malignancies. As in any multiauthor publication the standard varies considerably, and regrettably there is repetition. The introduction by Stoll makes the point that success of hormone therapy is measured in terms of tumour restraint rather than cure. The greater part of the book deals with breast carcinoma. Jordan describes laboratory models of hormone-dependent cancer sensibly and objectively including a good review of human cancer cell lines. Santen and Brodie on aromatase inhibitors include considerable pharmacological detail, but the Aminoglutethimide story makes fascinating reading. Berstock and Baum produce a predictably clear account of adjuvant endocrine and chemotherapy and a realistic attitude to clinical trials. DeSombre on hormone receptors, prognosis and therapy is enjoyable and does not avoid the vexed problem of quality control of assays. The chapters on leukaemia, lymphoma, endometrial carcinoma and pituitary adenomas proved somewhat esoteric for a general surgeon, although those on thyroid and prostate carcinoma are succintly written and certainly of greater relevance.
In view of the rapid advances currently being made this volume will soon be out of date, for example the discovery and therapeutic implications of steroid receptors in pancreatic tissue are not mentioned.
The book is well produced, excellently referenced and reasonably priced, although the index is poor and might well have been omitted. A copy will doubtless be available in all medical libraries, but this is not a book which the general surgeon need own.