Cancer in brief

Concise clinical oncology.

Clive Peedell. Sydney: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005 (xiii + 320 pp). ISBN 0 7506 8836.

Exactly as the title suggests — concise and to the point! It is robustly constructed, and ideal in size (190 x 130 mm — fits in a coat pocket), number of pages and detail for medical students or junior clinicians in any specialty, general practitioners, or junior trainees in one of the oncology specialties. Oncology trainees in later years would be better served by a more comprehensive textbook.

The author is a radiation oncologist at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, and the information presented is up-to-date, succinct and relevant.

It is easy to navigate, with good use of fonts, as well as colour, tables and figures to embellish the text. It is well set out with an excellent table of contents and index. Sections include oncology principles, A–Z of cancers (which occupies about half of the book), complications and emergencies, as well as a short A–Z of chemotherapy drugs, and useful websites. There are three to five references after each chapter for readers who want more detail, mostly reviews in readily accessible online journals.

With each cancer in the A–Z section, the text is divided into background, presentation, diagnosis and staging, management, and future perspectives. This allows easy navigation for the busy general clinician. All cancers are covered but, as is appropriate, the more common cancers, such as breast, colorectal and lung cancer, occupy more pages.

Some of the information about cancer management and prognosis may change with time, but the future perspectives section gives this book a longer shelf life than most.

Stephen P AcklandMedical Oncologist Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, NSW