Cancer Biology

The fourth edition of this classic text provides a thorough, yet concise review of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the transformation of normal into malignant cells, the invasiveness of cancer cells into host tissues, and the metastatic spread of cancer cells in the host organism. It defines the fundamental pathophysiologic changes that occur in tumor tissue and in the host animal or patient. Each chapter discusses the historical development of a field, citing the key experimental advances to the present day, and evaluates the current evidence that best supports or rules out concepts of the molecular and cellular mechanisms regulating cancer cell behavior. For all the areas of fundamental cancer research, an effort has been made to relate basic research findings to the clinical disease states. The book is well written and well illustrated, with schematic diagrams and actual research data to demonstrate points made in the text. There is also an extensive, up-to-date bibliography, making the book valuable to scientists, and to physicians, students, and nurses interested in the field of cancer biology. The topics covered include pathologic characterization of human tumors, epidemiology of human cancer, regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation, cellular and molecular phenotypic characteristics of the cancer cell, mechanisms of carcinogenesis, tumor initiation and promotion, viral carcinogenesis, oncogenes and oncogene products, growth factors, chromosomal alterations in cancer, mechanisms of tumor metastasis, host-tumor interactions, fundamental aspects of tumor immunology, and the advances in cancer cell biology that will lead to improved diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the future.