Introduction to Cancer Biology is a well-structured, concise summary of the essential fundamentals of cancer biology. It introduces readers to the epidemiology of the disease on a global scale and highlights the significant trends and various risk factors affecting the types and frequency of cancer worldwide. Chapters address the major causes of cancer, ranging from radiation to obesity; signaling mechanisms (the RAS-MAPK pathway is used as an example to elucidate the complexity of the signaling process in a normal cell); the different types of cancer genes and the process of cancer development at the molecular level; the complex process of tumor development and what makes the cells in a tumor different from the cells in a normal tissue; and the important properties of cancer such as the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and how a tumor becomes metastatic. The complex network of signaling pathways and the cross-talk between these diverse pathways from a cancer perspective is described. The book gives an overview of the current diagnosis and treatment technologies and introduces the exciting new developments in diagnosis and treatment.
Introduction to Cancer Biology will be a useful resource for a wide audience that includes undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs who are moving into the field of oncology or interested in learning about the various features of cancer in a detailed fashion. The flow of the book from the epidemiology to the molecular mechanisms and finally to the diagnosis and treatment aspect of the disease makes it easy to follow and appreciate this complex field. The book also contains very useful and informative appendixes for tumor grading and staging, targets of specific anti-cancer drugs, classes of major oncoproteins, major tumor suppressor genes, and the major types of cancer.