This comprehensive text book is divided into four sections. The first part describes the principles of oncology, which provides a necessary background for a non-oncology specialist. Evaluation of the cancer patient is briefly reported. The different cytotoxic drugs and their side effects are reviewed, more extensively described within the liver. The second part describes the principles of image-guided therapy. The use of the modalities reducing radiation dose is emphasized. The relatively new modality, PET-CT, a very helpful tool in tumor evaluation, is not very well described. The value of correct assessment of tumor response and the limitations of the various modalities are explained.
Part three, which is the major part of the book, deals with the treatment of organ-specific cancers. Naturally the liver malignancies are carefully covered and the different treatments, like surgical resection, transplantation, medical treatment options, TACE and thermal therapies are comprehensively described. The hepatocellular carcinoma is discussed but the description of the pathology and the histology is relatively poor. The extrahepatic biliary carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, chest, musculoskeletal, head and neck tumors are all exemplified in separate sections.
The last part of the book contains descriptions of the specialized interventional techniques used in the treatment of malignant diseases. This includes palliative procedures, symptom management and complications of endovascular procedures in malignant liver disease.
The editors have gathered many international well-known experts and have succeeded in covering the fields of detection, characterization, targeting and describing different therapies of cancer. Some images are not up to date and the book contains a limited number of images. This book can be recommended for specialists involved in the treatment of patients with malignant diseases.