- Email: [email protected]
Renal Cell Carcinoma, R. M. Bukowski and A. C. Novick (Ed.); Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, USA, 2000, (ISBN: 0-89603-781-9)
Book Reviews / Surgical Oncology 8 (1999) 167}176
earlier point in the development and therefore much more speculative. The "nal chapters deal with overviews of two regional treatments that are actually current clinical practice. Intravesical therapy for super"cial bladder cancer is well reviewed in Chapter 18 and although intrathecal chemotherapy receives an extensive treatment from Chapters 19}22, speci"cally for meningeal involvement from solid tumours, lymphomas and leukaemia, there is very little `new on the horizona. They are competent reviews of the available existing literature, that I feel however could have easily been condensed into a single much smaller chapter. I found myself skipping large volumes of text which were quite similar and with no novel content. Overall, this book was an excellent read which was written by enthusiasts, practising in the very interesting
175
"eld of regional chemotherapy. I would like to make the point, however, that most of these techniques are clearly in the research domain and far from becoming mainstream management. Furthermore, it is possible that the advent of novel drugs which achieve excellent responses through the systemic route (cf. response rates for Irinotecan and Oxailplatin in liver metastases from colon cancer) may suddenly make some of these techniques obsolete. Nevertheless, I think this a highly recommendable book that should be on the shelf of all specialists dealing with cancers where regional chemotherapy, chemo-biotherapy or biotherapy alone are possibilities. A. Maraveyas Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, The Princess Royal Hospital, Saltshouse Road, Hull, HU8 9HE, USA
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 7 4 0 4 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 1 - 6
Renal Cell Carcinoma, R. M. Bukowski and A. C. Novick (Ed.); Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, USA, 2000, (ISBN: 0-89603-781-9) Renal Cell Carcinoma is a fascinating disease. Classically, it presents with haematuria and a loin mass, but nowadays it is often detected by chance during ultrasound examination for some other reason. As a result more newly diagnosed tumours are detected at an earlier stage and can be treated by nephrectomy. However, a signi"cant minority present with locally advanced disease that might include tumour growth within the vena cava * many of these tumours are worth resecting, but should be referred to specialized centres. Metastatic disease is di$cult to treat, it does not respond well to systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy has a limited role. Immune responses to the tumour do occur and there is a tiny, but well documented rate of spontaneous regression of metastatic disease. Both Editors are internationally respected experts and they have chosen an excellent range of mostly North American authors. Part I covers a range of basic topics including epidemiology, molecular genetics and immune dysfunction. The sections on the molecular biology of the disease might bene"cially have been expanded to cover more functional aspects of the molecular and genetic
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 7 4 0 4 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 3 - X
abnormalities that have been detected. Throughout the book, more diagrams and more liberal use of Tables and `bulleta points would have helped in the presentation of the material. Parts II and III cover the management of localized and advanced or metastatic disease, respectively. There are a number of controversial areas in the management of this disease, and this book covers them well. Andrew Novick has carefully investigated the role of renal sparing surgery and this aspect is well described. Inderbir Gill has pioneered the use of laparoscopy in the treatment of this disease and provides a welcome overview of this and the use of cryotherapy. The chapters on the treatment of more advanced disease including immuno-therapy and novel therapies were particularly useful and comprehensive. I enjoyed reading the book which contains the right level of detail for the urologist specialising in cancer or for the oncologist with an interest in the disease.
D.E. Neal Department of Surgery, School of Surgical and Reproductive Sciences, The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
earlier point in the development and therefore much more speculative. The "nal chapters deal with overviews of two regional treatments that are actually current clinical practice. Intravesical therapy for super"cial bladder cancer is well reviewed in Chapter 18 and although intrathecal chemotherapy receives an extensive treatment from Chapters 19}22, speci"cally for meningeal involvement from solid tumours, lymphomas and leukaemia, there is very little `new on the horizona. They are competent reviews of the available existing literature, that I feel however could have easily been condensed into a single much smaller chapter. I found myself skipping large volumes of text which were quite similar and with no novel content. Overall, this book was an excellent read which was written by enthusiasts, practising in the very interesting
175
"eld of regional chemotherapy. I would like to make the point, however, that most of these techniques are clearly in the research domain and far from becoming mainstream management. Furthermore, it is possible that the advent of novel drugs which achieve excellent responses through the systemic route (cf. response rates for Irinotecan and Oxailplatin in liver metastases from colon cancer) may suddenly make some of these techniques obsolete. Nevertheless, I think this a highly recommendable book that should be on the shelf of all specialists dealing with cancers where regional chemotherapy, chemo-biotherapy or biotherapy alone are possibilities. A. Maraveyas Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, The Princess Royal Hospital, Saltshouse Road, Hull, HU8 9HE, USA
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 7 4 0 4 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 1 - 6
Renal Cell Carcinoma, R. M. Bukowski and A. C. Novick (Ed.); Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, USA, 2000, (ISBN: 0-89603-781-9) Renal Cell Carcinoma is a fascinating disease. Classically, it presents with haematuria and a loin mass, but nowadays it is often detected by chance during ultrasound examination for some other reason. As a result more newly diagnosed tumours are detected at an earlier stage and can be treated by nephrectomy. However, a signi"cant minority present with locally advanced disease that might include tumour growth within the vena cava * many of these tumours are worth resecting, but should be referred to specialized centres. Metastatic disease is di$cult to treat, it does not respond well to systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy has a limited role. Immune responses to the tumour do occur and there is a tiny, but well documented rate of spontaneous regression of metastatic disease. Both Editors are internationally respected experts and they have chosen an excellent range of mostly North American authors. Part I covers a range of basic topics including epidemiology, molecular genetics and immune dysfunction. The sections on the molecular biology of the disease might bene"cially have been expanded to cover more functional aspects of the molecular and genetic
PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 7 4 0 4 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 1 3 - X
abnormalities that have been detected. Throughout the book, more diagrams and more liberal use of Tables and `bulleta points would have helped in the presentation of the material. Parts II and III cover the management of localized and advanced or metastatic disease, respectively. There are a number of controversial areas in the management of this disease, and this book covers them well. Andrew Novick has carefully investigated the role of renal sparing surgery and this aspect is well described. Inderbir Gill has pioneered the use of laparoscopy in the treatment of this disease and provides a welcome overview of this and the use of cryotherapy. The chapters on the treatment of more advanced disease including immuno-therapy and novel therapies were particularly useful and comprehensive. I enjoyed reading the book which contains the right level of detail for the urologist specialising in cancer or for the oncologist with an interest in the disease.
D.E. Neal Department of Surgery, School of Surgical and Reproductive Sciences, The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 4HH, UK E-mail address: [email protected]