Authors:
MICHAEL M. BOYIADZIS, MD, MHSc
PETER F. LEBOWITZ, MD, PhD
JAMES N. FRAME, MD
TITO FOJO, MD, PhD, et al
Publisher:
McGraw-Hill, New York
899 pages
Price: $69.00
Reviewed by
THOMAS J. SAPHNER, MD, FACP
Principal Investigator
St. Vincent Regional Community Clinical
Oncology Program
Green Bay Oncology Clinic
St. Mary's Hospital
Medical Center
Green Bay, Wisconsin
This up-to-date, concise text is well suited to experienced practitioners who need good information fast. The text's 899 pages are well researched, demonstrating the efforts of 4 major authors and 89 contributing authors. Information is integrated from the oncology and hematology literature, practice guidelines, and the experience of the authors.
The book's 67 chapters cover oncologic and nonneoplastic hematology disorders as well as supportive care. Chapters 1 through 38 address common cancers; chapters 39 through 55 address supportive care, drug preparation, complications, and screening; and chapters 56 through 67 cover selected noncancer hematologic diseases.
The oncology chapters cover 38 cancers in a very standardized format. Common cancers such as breast, lung, colon, and prostate are covered as well as less common cancers such as carcinoid tumors, adrenocortical cancer, and pheochromocytoma. Each oncology chapter addresses epidemiology, pathology, survival, work-up, staging, caveats, and regimens. The section on caveats is the most readable and most interesting. The real value of the book is the presentation of treatment regimens in a standardized format. Each treatment regimen is accompanied by references, a description of the regimen, the patient population studied, efficacy, toxicity, and dose modifications. Nearly 500 regimens are included.
The first of 16 supportive care chapters covers nausea and vomiting, including tables categorizing the level of nausea caused by each drug and the appropriate regimen for that level. One chapter is allocated to the preparation and administration of each chemotherapeutic agent, while another discusses dose modifications. Additional chapters in this section describe the use of growth factors and bisphosphonates. Common day-to-day issues, including extravasations, catheter-related infections, venous clots, and neutropenic fevers, are also covered.
The 12 chapters on selected hematologic diseases are well suited to the medical oncologist who is consulted about nonmalignant hematology problems. Chapters include discussions of von Willebrand disease, hemophilia, heparin(Drug information on heparin)-induced thrombocytopenia, aplastic anemia, and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Three hematologic malignancies are also included—polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia, and myelodysplastic syndromes.
A 70-year-old man with a history of localized prostate cancer treated with whole-pelvis radiation therapy with a boost to the prostate, in conjunction with androgen deprivation therapy 7 years prior, presented with lower back pain. A bone scan revealed an area of activity in the sacrum. What is the most likely diagnosis?
