Reviewer: Bruce Brockstein, MD (Northwestern University )
Description: The author of this textbook details broad clinical aspects of 18 cancers or cancer primary sites, all of which occur with relative infrequency and are generally not well described in most cancer textbooks.
Purpose: The author's goals are quite important and worthy, as he attempts to describe, in one useable text, the relevant data on 18 tumors/tumor sites that are both rare and not covered in detail in existing textbooks. Unfortunately, while his main objective is met, this textbook is only somewhat useful, and the reader will still need to consult other sources for patient care.
Audience: The author intends this book to be directed at a broad audience, but especially at the practicing internist, general surgeon, and medical, radiation, and surgical oncologist. In review, I agree with the target audience, which conceptually could include a broad range of individuals from students to practicing oncology specialists.
Features: Select rare, "neglected" tumors are covered in this text. These can be summarized as follows: the functional and non-functional endocrine tumors, tumors of unusual sites in the gastrointestinal tract, and rare tumors of the female genitourinary tract, the heart, and the thymus. Rare tumors such as specific sarcomas and skin cancers are excluded because of their inclusion in other texts. Probably the strength of this text is the thorough inclusion of demographic and epidemiological data expressed in detailed tabular format. The unique feature is an attempt to structure all life table and graphical data into a single format. This, however, proves to be a major flaw of the book, as the superimposition of linear curves on three-dimensional graphs makes it difficult to accurately interpret the life tables. Still, the major shortcoming is readability. Editing was extremely deficient, and the book is extremely difficult to read as a result of frequent grammatical, structural, and spelling errors. Additionally, the author, although thorough, frequently mixes information between sections. The treatment details are not consistently useful to a medical oncologist, and co-authors are desperately needed. Finally, the index is inadequately detailed for a book on the details of rare tumors.
Assessment: The author's worthy goals are partially met. Routine usefulness is lacking, due to grammatical flaws and lack of details on treatment in some chapters. The author's objectives are commendable, and hopefully a second edition, with co-authors and improved editing, will lead to a useful text in the future.
Reviewer: Bruce Brockstein, MD(Northwestern University )
Description: The author of this textbook details broad clinical aspects of 18 cancers or cancer primary sites, all of which occur with relative infrequency and are generally not well described in most cancer textbooks.
Purpose: The author's goals are quite important and worthy, as he attempts to describe, in one useable text, the relevant data on 18 tumors/tumor sites that are both rare and not covered in detail in existing textbooks. Unfortunately, while his main objective is met, this textbook is only somewhat useful, and the reader will still need to consult other sources for patient care.
Audience: The author intends this book to be directed at a broad audience, but especially at the practicing internist, general surgeon, and medical, radiation, and surgical oncologist. In review, I agree with the target audience, which conceptually could include a broad range of individuals from students to practicing oncology specialists.
Features: Select rare, "neglected" tumors are covered in this text. These can be summarized as follows: the functional and non-functional endocrine tumors, tumors of unusual sites in the gastrointestinal tract, and rare tumors of the female genitourinary tract, the heart, and the thymus. Rare tumors such as specific sarcomas and skin cancers are excluded because of their inclusion in other texts. Probably the strength of this text is the thorough inclusion of demographic and epidemiological data expressed in detailed tabular format. The unique feature is an attempt to structure all life table and graphical data into a single format. This, however, proves to be a major flaw of the book, as the superimposition of linear curves on three-dimensional graphs makes it difficult to accurately interpret the life tables. Still, the major shortcoming is readability. Editing was extremely deficient, and the book is extremely difficult to read as a result of frequent grammatical, structural, and spelling errors. Additionally, the author, although thorough, frequently mixes information between sections. The treatment details are not consistently useful to a medical oncologist, and co-authors are desperately needed. Finally, the index is inadequately detailed for a book on the details of rare tumors.
Assessment: The author's worthy goals are partially met. Routine usefulness is lacking, due to grammatical flaws and lack of details on treatment in some chapters. The author's objectives are commendable, and hopefully a second edition, with co-authors and improved editing, will lead to a useful text in the future.
The author of this textbook details broad clinical aspects of 18 cancers or cancer primary sites, all of which occur with relative infrequency and are generally not well described in most cancer textbooks. The author's goals are quite important and worthy, as he attempts to describe, in one useable text, the relevant data on 18 tumors/tumor sites that are both rare and not covered in detail in existing textbooks. Unfortunately, while his main objective is met, this textbook is only somewhat useful, and the reader will still need to consult other sources for patient care. The author intends this book to be directed at a broad audience, but especially at the practicing internist, general surgeon, and medical, radiation, and surgical oncologist. In review, I agree with the target audience, which conceptually could include a broad range of individuals from students to practicing oncology specialists. Select rare, ""neglected"" tumors are covered in this text. These can be summarized as follows: the functional and non-functional endocrine tumors, tumors of unusual sites in the gastrointestinal tract, and rare tumors of the female genitourinary tract, the heart, and the thymus. Rare tumors such as specific sarcomas and skin cancers are excluded because of their inclusion in other texts. Probably the strength of this text is the thorough inclusion of demographic and epidemiological data expressed in detailed tabular format. The unique feature is an attempt to structure all life table and graphical data into a single format. This, however, proves to be a major flaw of the book, as the superimposition of linear curves on three-dimensional graphs makes it difficult to accurately interpretthe life tables. Still, the major shortcoming is readability. Editing was extremely deficient, and the book is extremely difficult to read as a result of frequent grammatical, structural, and spelling errors. Additionally, the author, although thorough, frequently mixes information between sections. The treatment details are not consistently useful to a medical oncologist, and co-authors are desperately needed. Finally, the index is inadequately detailed for a book on the details of rare tumors. The author's worthy goals are partially met. Routine usefulness is lacking, due to grammatical flaws and lack of details on treatment in some chapters. The author's objectives are commendable, and hopefully a second edition, with co-authors and improved editing, will lead to a useful text in the future.
Retired radiation oncologist Debois offers his colleagues still in practice a reference to types of cancer that, for reasons of space, are rarely covered in general textbooks. He compiles information from the specialized literature into a standard format of bibliography, history, incidence, anatomy, clinical presentation, diagnosis and staging, treatment, and follow-up. Among the conditions he discusses are carcinoma of the parathyroid, carcinoids, primary tumors of the heart, gestational trophoblastic diseases, cancer of the extrahepatic bile duct, malignant tumors of the appendix, and pheochromocytoma. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
‘All these characteristics make the present booka very valuable tool, more for the specialised oncologist than for the young student' Selected Topics in Oncology (March, 2001)
