Publisher Description

This well-written text is designed to help students and health professionals understand oncology through real-life clinical scenarios, helping treatment and management decisions. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this practical case-based format is fun to use and imparts a sense of reality to the learning process. The first chapter presents clinically relevant data from molecular biology, statistics and trial analysis, and Quality of Life research withan emphasis on what practising clinicians should know, but might have difficulty finding elsewhere in a digestible form. The second chapter, Making Management Decisions in Oncology presents theprinciples which guide decision making in oncology and covers the integration of tumour factors, patient factors and treatment factors into the decision making process. Cancer management requires the skills of a variety of clinicians - surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, palliative care physicians, oncology nurses and others. The integration of these disciplines into the overall management of each major tumour type has been emphasised in subsequentchapters.

Author Biography

Paul R. Harnett is at Westmead Hospital, Sydney.

Table of Contents

Basic science of oncologyMaking management decisionsBreast oncologyMelanomaHaematological oncologyThoracic oncologyUrological oncologyGastrointestinal oncologyGynaecological oncologyPaediatric oncologySarcoma and bone oncologyHead, neck, and central nervous system oncologyManaging the end of life

Long Description

This well-written text is designed to help students and health professionals understand oncology through real-life clinical scenarios, helping treatment and management decisions. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this practical case-based format is fun to use and imparts a sense of reality to the learning process. The first chapter presents clinically relevant data from molecular biology, statistics and trial analysis, and Quality of Life research with
an emphasis on what practising clinicians should know, but might have difficulty finding elsewhere in a digestible form. The second chapter, Making Management Decisions in Oncology presents the principles which guide decision making in oncology and covers the integration of tumour factors, patient
factors and treatment factors into the decision making process. Cancer management requires the skills of a variety of clinicians - surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, palliative care physicians, oncology nurses and others. The integration of these disciplines into the overall management of each major tumour type has been emphasised in subsequent chapters.

Review Text

1. Basic science of oncology 1.1. What are oncogenes and what role do they play in human cancer? 1.2. What are tumour suppressor genes and what role do they play in human cancer? 1.3. What is the relevance of DNA damage and repair to carcinogenesis and cancer therapy? 1.4. What happens to tumour cells which are responding to therapy? 1.5. Retrospective comparisons of treatments 1.6. Comparisons of responders and non-responders 1.7. What is the difference between quality of life and "QALYS"? 1.8. Accessing electronic information to inform effective clinical practice 1.9. Internet sites for oncologists 1.10. How can one justify a screening programme for cancer? 1.11. Tumour staging 2. Making management decisions 2.1. A 34-year-old woman with a cervical lesion 2.2. Assessing the benefits of adjuvant therapies 2.3. A 73-year-old woman with a bone lesion 2.4. Human error 3. Breast oncology 3.1. How does family history define increased risk of breast cancer? 3.2. Tamoxifen chemoprevention for breast cancer 3.3. Breast cancer with extensive intraductal component -- is mastectomy necessary? 3.4. Paget's disease of the nipple 3.5. Should everyone with early breast cancer receive adjuvant radiotherapy? 3.6. Should everyone with early breast cancer receive adjuvant chemotherapy? 3.7. Oophorectomy after breast cancer 3.8. Options to preserve fertility after treatment for breast cancer 3.9. Local recurrence after treatment for breast cancer 3.10. Spinal cord compression 3.11. Major depression in a patient with breast cancer 3.12. Managing cancer pain 4. Melanoma 4.1. Melanoma 5. Haematological oncology 5.1. A young woman with early stage Hodgkin's disease 5.2. Large cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 5.3. A 37-year-old with low grade lymphoma 5.4. Two cases of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) 5.5. Myeloproliferative disorders / myelodysplastic syndromes 5.6. A bleeding gastric carcinoma presenting as deep venous thrombosis 6. Thoracic oncology 6.1. Small cell carcinoma of the lung 6.2. Non-small cell lung cancer 6.3. Dyspnoea in a patient with lung cancer 6.4. Delirium in a patient with lung cancer 6.5. Seizures in a patient with lung cancer and cerebral metastases 6.6. Metallic stent for superior vena cava obstruction in a patient with far advanced lung cancer 7. Urological oncology 7.1. Testicular carcinoma 7.2. Options to preserve fertility after treatment for testis cancer 7.3. Prostate cancer 7.4. Renal cell carcinoma with intracaval extension 7.5. Transitional cell carcinoma of the mid-ureter in a patient with only one kidney 7.6. Ureteric obstruction in a patient with bladder cancer 8. Gastrointestinal oncology 8.1. Analysing a family history of bowel cancer 8.2. Malignant dysphagia 8.3. Malignant colon polyp 8.4. Rectal adenocarcinoma 8.5. Follow-up after treatment for colonic cancer 8.6. Coeliac plexus block in pancreatic carcinoma 8.7. Constipation in a patient with pancreatic carcinoma 8.8. Spinal opioids for pain relief in cancer 8.9. Anorexia and cachexia in advanced malignancy 8.10. Malignant obstructive jaundice 9. Gynaecological oncology 9.1. Epithelial ovarian carcinoma 9.2. Palliation of malignant ascites 9.3. A 24-year-old woman with a germ cell tumour of the ovary 9.4. Endometrial carcinoma 9.5. Carcinoma of the vulva 10. Paediatric oncology 10.1. A 6-year-old with medulloblastoma 10.2. A 10-month-old with neuroblastoma 10.3. A 12-year-old with Hodgkin's disease 10.4. Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 10.5. Pain management in children with cancer 11. Sarcoma and bone oncology 11.1. Osteogenic sarcoma 11.2. Soft tissue sarcoma -- management of an extremity mass 11.3. Soft tissue sarcoma --

Feature

* covers oncology in over 80 cases
* includes a guide to oncology information and evidence databases on the Internet
* includes considerable coverage of issues in supportive care and symptom control.
* deals with issues such as Breaking Bad News & Dealing with Angry Patients

Details