Selected Topics in Clinical Oncology : An In-depth Study of 18 Cancers Usually Neglected in Classical Textbooks

By Prof.Dr.A.T.Van Oosterom Head of the Department of Oncology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium The word cancer defines over 180 different diseases. Some occurring quite often and are well known, others are very rare and sometimes so unknown that the diagnosis is not even suspected at operation. In this book, Dr.Debois, a retired radiation oncologist, describes a selected group of cancer types, some of which are difficult to find in the standard textbooks, in a logical format starting with their bibliography, history, incidence, anatomy, clinical presentation, diagnosis and staging, treatment and follow-up. For the general oncologist in the community it gives the appropriate data to understand the described diseases and to familiarize him with the peculiar patient he has identified. The many tables and figures in every chapter contain an enormous amount of data difficult to collect without extensive searches. The mix of historical and new (genetic) data makes reading attractive. In my opinion this book will find his place in the library of every oncologist who wants to know more about the rarer tumors he or she encounters. We know a lot about the common tumors but too little about the diseases described here.

There are many excellent textbooks on General Oncology. Due to the enormous volume of the scientific knowledge, classic textbooks, however, have to master and squeeze all this into an acceptable number of pages. The result is that less frequently encountered tumorous conditions are not fully addressed compared with chapters on breast, bronchus and colonic cancers.
The author has selected 18 cancers which are usually neglected in classic textbooks due to space and volume problems. Reviewing the nevertheless extensive literature on these tumours, one will observe the remarkable diversity in their presentation, adding to the difficulties of their diagnosis. Sometimes patients present differently to specialists, further dispersing the knowledge and the experience on these rare conditions. Dedicated teams and even institutes have been set up to study some of these cancers, enlarging the knowledge and experience but also dramatically enhancing the treatment results and survival rates.
This book is a guide for the oncology-minded specialist from cardiologist to gastro- enterologist and from ophthalmologist to thoracic surgeon. It provides updated knowledge on the different cancers discussed, generally dispersed in the still more diversifying medical literature, wherein it is progressively more difficult to obtain an overview, even in selected and frequently limited reviews.

Bruce Brockstein

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.

Front Matter....Pages i-xi Carcinoma of the Parathyroid....Pages 1-10 Paraganglioma....Pages 11-36 Thymoma and Thymic Carcinoma....Pages 37-64 Endocrine Tumors of the Git....Pages 65-120 Carcinoids....Pages 121-183 Primary Tumors of the Heart....Pages 184-213 Tumors of the Adrenal Cortex....Pages 214-240 Pheochromocytoma....Pages 241-280 Carcinoma of the Fallopian Tube....Pages 281-294 Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases....Pages 295-344 Cancer of the Salivary Glands....Pages 345-391 Hepatocellular Carcinoma....Pages 392-475 Cancer of the Gallbladder....Pages 476-502 Cancer of the Extrahepatic Bile Ducts....Pages 503-526 Cancer of the Small Intestine....Pages 527-546 Malignant Tumors of the Appendix....Pages 547-554 Malignant Tumors of the Cecum....Pages 555-561 Cancer of the Anus and the Anal Canal....Pages 562-586 Back Matter....Pages 587-596