A Textbook of Cancer Epidemiology - Hardcover

Adami; Levy; Becker; Ashla; Mueser; Greenberg; Cameron; Schweitzer; Frank; Pellegrino; Danis; Hunninghake, Donald; Knopp, Robert; Athanasou, Nicholas A.; Botkin; Abrams, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195109694 ISBN 13: 9780195109696

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002

Synopsis

This superb text gives a concise, systematic account of what is currently known about the epidemiology and primary prevention for most forms of human cancer. Early chapters summarize the principles and methods of epidemiology, the biology of cancer, cancer genetics, the emerging potential of biomarkers, and the burden of cancer around the world. Then chapters of uniform structure on over 20 types of cancer provide clinical and pathological outlines, descriptive epidemiology, and a comprehensive account of risk factors and their etiological importance. Specific sections address somatic and germ cell mutations that play a role in the occurrence of particular forms of cancer.

About this title

About the Author

Hans-Olov Adami is at Karolinka Institute. David Hunter is at Harvard School of Public Health, MA.

Reviews

As the field of cancer epidemiology becomes increasingly broad and complex, studies are being conducted to examine how environmental exposure, lifestyle choices, and genetic susceptibilities influence the risk of cancer. It is not easy to keep abreast of such an expanding field and to separate the important from the not-so-important findings. Textbook of Cancer Epidemiology is compact yet provides a comprehensive grasp of the field and is recommended for the cancer epidemiologist, practitioner, public health administrator, and student. It is not as encyclopedic as Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), edited by Schottenfeld and Fraumeni, nor as clinical as Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology (Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2001), edited by DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg. But it is up to date, covers the major factors associated with increased or decreased cancer risk, and is written in a clear and readable style. At least one of the three editors, all of whom have made substantial contributions to cancer epidemiology research, coauthored each of the 26 chapters. The result is a consistent, uniform style that is unusual for a book with 24 authors. The book has two parts ("Background" and "Site-Specific Cancers") and concludes with a provocative epilogue. The background section provides basic information on descriptive cancer data, genetics, biomarkers, and causal inferences. The site-specific chapters follow a consistent format: clinical synopsis; descriptive epidemiology; genetic and molecular epidemiology, including inherited susceptibility and somatic mutations; and finally, risk factors, including tobacco, alcohol, diet, reproductive and hormonal factors, infections, ionizing radiation, occupation, medical conditions, physical activity, anthropometric measures, and others. This format allows for easy access to information on specific risk factors for specific cancers, but comprehensive information on a particular type of exposure, such as ionizing radiation or viruses as a cause of cancer, is not easy to retrieve. The reader has to go through each chapter to find key references, which are not as complete for some sites as for others. However, the book is surprisingly up to date for a multiauthored book, with references into 2001. The up-to-date information on genetic and molecular epidemiology is particularly noteworthy. Areas of public and scientific concern receive reasoned coverage, including putative associations between cellular telephones and brain cancer, electromagnetic fields and leukemia, and abortions and breast cancer, none of which can be considered causal, according to the evidence shown by the authors. However, some known causes of cancer, such as alkylating agents that can cause leukemia and some solid cancers, could have been covered more completely. Nevertheless, the overview of causality is cogent, and some specific cancers, such as those of the lung, breast, and kidney, are covered exceptionally well. Given the immense amount of available information on cancer risk factors, the authors are to be commended on their succinct and insightful summaries. An intriguing epilogue raises the important issue of whether epidemiology has reached its limits. The editors state that epidemiology is far from universally accepted as a successful science and ask whether an age of "diminishing returns" has been reached in which greater and greater effort is needed to identify weaker and less prevalent risk factors. Associations accepted as causal since the 1980s are listed and include Helicobacter pylori, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B virus, passive smoking, hormone-replacement therapy, physical activity, and obesity. The authors also show that concern about some risk factors, such as saccharine, reserpine, coffee, dietary fat, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloro-ethane (DDT), has fallen by the wayside. They conclude on a cautiously optimistic note, predicting that the field of cancer epidemiology has much more to contribute. "Whether our best days are ahead of us or behind us remains to be seen, but the substantial fractions of prostate, breast, brain, lymphoma, leukemia and other cancers that remain unexplained indicate that we still have much work to do." All in all, the book provides a concise and systematic account of cancer epidemiology today, with insightful coverage of key issues for the future. William J. Blot, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195109694
• ISBN 13: 9780195109696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 385
• Editor: Adami Hans-Olov, Hunter David, Trichopoulos Dimitrios