Oncologic Imaging, Second Edition

Although the title might be slightly misleading, Oncologic Imaging is actually a compendium of information on the detection, diagnosis, imaging, staging, and treatment of cancer. This is the second edition of a multiauthor book that first appeared in 1985. Medicine, particularly the diagnosis and treatment of neoplastic disease, has changed significantly since then, and the new edition reflects these changes.

The first two chapters of Oncologic Imaging deal with detection, staging, screening, and classification of common tumors. These chapters are particularly helpful for the diagnostic radiologist. The next three chapters are devoted to new imaging techniques, image guidance, and cellular imaging. Most of these techniques are in their infancy and still evolving. These chapters provide the reader with a valuable introduction to this technology but are not meant to be a definitive text on the subject. For example, just one small paragraph is devoted to fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) imaging in breast cancer. The newer technique of computed tomography (CT)-PET, which is being used in some tertiary centers, is not covered at all. These chapters will be very helpful to the clinician who orders the diagnostic exams, as opposed to the radiologist, who may already have this knowledge.

I found the five chapters on techniques of radiation therapy to be very general but extremely informative. As a diagnostic radiologist, I always wondered what "tricks of the trade" my therapeutic colleagues were using. These chapters offered insight into the inner workings of treatment planning and verification.

Although there is only one chapter on brain and spinal cord tumors, there are four chapters on tumors of the head and neck. These chapters give an overview of different tumor types and their radiographic appearances. However, the book contains radiographic examples of only a minority of these entities. Diffusion, perfusion, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are covered. The value of MRI spectroscopy is also discussed.

Although there is a very informative chapter on interventional techniques for the diagnosis of breast cancer, a discussion on biopsy techniques for malignancy is much shorter. There is an in-depth chapter on chest wall malignancies (a topic that is usually not highlighted), 120 pages of discussion on the gastrointestinal tract, and a similar amount on genitourinary and gynecologic cancers. Three chapters on the musculoskeletal system include an excellent chapter on metastatic bone disease, and the four chapters on pediatric tumors may be the most comprehensive discussion on this topic in a radiology text.

The broad scope of this book precludes it from being an atlas of imaging findings in cancer. An additional limitation of this and any text on an evolving field of medicine is that the book cannot possibly remain current for long. The multitude of ongoing scientific advancements will quickly render some information in the text obsolete.

This book is unique in that it elucidates detection, imaging, diagnosis, staging, and treatment of cancer in adults and children in one text. I would highly recommend this excellent text to all physicians who are involved in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. Diagnostic radiologists will benefit from the all-inclusive discussions on staging, treatment, and prognosis of oncologic disease. Therapeutic radiologists will get a better understanding of the multimodality appearance of the neoplasm they treat. Medical oncologists will find this book particularly helpful in determining which exams they should order to best diagnose cancer.