Items related to Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy

Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy - Hardcover

 
9780192628350: Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
Every day, 1500 Americans die of cancer, and yet for most of us this deadly disease remains mysterious. Why is it so common? Why are there so many different causes? Why does treatment so often fail? What, ultimately, is cancer? In this fascinating new book, a leading cancer researcher offers general readers clear and convincing answers to these and many other questions.
Mel Greaves places cancer in its evolutionary context, arguing that we can best answer the big questions about cancer by looking through a Darwinian lens. Drawing on both ancient and more modern evolutionary legacies, he shows how human development has changed the rules of evolutionary games, trapping us in a nature-nurture mismatch. Compelling examples, from the King of Naples intestinal tumor in the 15th century, through the epidemic of scrotal skin cancer in 18th-century chimney sweeps, to the current surge of cases of prostate cancer illustrate his thesis. He also shows why the old paradigms of infectious diseases or genetic disorders have proved fruitless when trying to explain this complex and elusive disease. And finally, he looks at the implications for research, prevention, and treatment of cancer that an evolutionary perspective provides.
Drawing on the most recent research, this is the first book to put cancer in its evolutionary framework. At a time when Darwinian perspectives on everything from language acquisition to economics are providing new breakthroughs in understanding, medicine seems to have much to gain from the insights provided by evolutionary biology. Written in an exceptionally lucid and entertaining style, this book will be of broad interest to all those who wish to know more about this dread disease.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
Nothing can scare us quite as much as cancer. This disease, striking sometimes sensibly, sometimes arbitrarily, inspires despair and hopelessness to the same extent that its cure eludes us. Cancer researcher Mel Greaves illuminates what we know of its causes and the obstacles to research in Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy. The subtitle is intriguing, and Greaves backs it up with a detailed examination of the evolutionary biology of cancer cells. It turns out that we can profitably think about cancer as a tool in the struggle for survival and reproduction among all the cells within a body. Losing regulatory genes might be great for reproducing individual cell lines, but in the long run, they are, of course, devastating to the organism as a whole. Greaves's personal, almost chatty style helps the nontechnical reader through some of the complicated immunological and genetic issues, and it also humanizes a topic that can easily overwhelm us with awe. Slipping back a few centuries, he explores the history of cancer and our attitudes toward it, then looks at how it has changed in recent years to become more widespread and better understood. Though Greaves is careful not to promise a cure just around the corner, his experience lends the writing an optimism that most readers will find refreshing. Though we're still at the mercy of this terrible disease, it's good to know we have more than just natural selection on our side. --Rob Lightner
About the Author:

Mel Greaves is Director of the Leukemia Research Fund Center at the Institute of Cancer Research, in London. The winner of several awards for cancer research, he lives in London.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherOxford University Press
  • Publication date2000
  • ISBN 10 0192628356
  • ISBN 13 9780192628350
  • BindingHardcover
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages290
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780192628343: Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780192628343
Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2002
Softcover

  • 9780756781453: Cancer: The Evolutionary Legacy

    Diane ..., 2000
    Hardcover

  • 9780373803545: Horizon (An Aftertime Novel)

    Harleq..., 2013
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Greaves, M. F.
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Sparrow Reads
(Edgewood, NM, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 001937

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.00
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenDragon
(Houston, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Buy for Great customer experience. Seller Inventory # GoldenDragon0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 18.84
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
ZBK Books
(Woodland Park, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # ZBM.16NMQ

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.07
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 23.37
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.82
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.50
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.21
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grumpys Fine Books
(Tijeras, NM, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Prompt service guaranteed. Seller Inventory # Clean0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 27.84
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0192628356-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 33.43
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Greaves, Mel
Published by Oxford University Press (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 29.15
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Mel Greaves
Published by Oxford University Press, USA (2000)
ISBN 10: 0192628356 ISBN 13: 9780192628350
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Ergodebooks
(Houston, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # DADAX0192628356

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 36.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book