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Doody ReviewsReviewer: J. Cameron Muir, MD (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine)
Description: This book provides a succinct overview of the major diseases and complications seen in the fields of hematology and oncology. Each topic is presented in a useful question-answer format covering the essential elements of each disease — its presentation, staging, and therapy. This is the second edition of this book, and three new sections on pediatric oncology, genetics, and HIV-related diseases have been added. Also, chapters have been added to the section on general care of the patient with cancer to address psychosocial issues, palliative care and end-of-life decision making, and care of the elderly patient with cancer.
Purpose: This book is intended to provide " useful information" about the field of hematology and oncology in a general overview format. While a concise overview of each disease state is captured in each brief chapter, the chapters new to this edition with reviews of the complex psychosocial and end-of-life issues are not so amenable to such a cursory overview.
Audience: This book is written for medical students, house staff, and primary care practitioners at an appropriate level of sophistication. While there are different authors for each chapter, there is a preponderance of contributors representing only two institutions which may limit the breadth of scope of experience.
Features: There are eight sections in this second edition covering General Concepts, General Hematology, Malignant Hematology, General Care, Solid Tumors, Pediatric Oncology, HIV-Related Diseases, and Cancer Genetics. Key issues are addressed in individual chapters for a given disease/situation. The questions and answers are succinct and cover the basic issues fairly well, though tend to portray things as being more black-and-white than is seen in practice. Furthermore, while providing an brief overview to a vast array of issues, there are limited, very general references which direct a reader toward a textbook, rather than individual studies cited to support conclusions reached by each contributor.
Assessment: This book provides inexperienced medical professionals and students a superficial overview of the field, which is less comprehensive than the Washington University Department of Medicine's The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics , 29th Edition (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998) , and perhaps less easily read. While the areas added to this second edition are of importance, the chapters on palliative care, hospice, and psychosocial aspects of cancer care are significantly lacking.