Book Reviews

The 1996 text Diagnosis and Management of Genitourinary Malignancies highlights some of the recent advances in basic science and clinical work in the field of genitourinary (GU) malignancies. This text is part of a series on cancer treatment and research. The editors’ stated purpose is to summarize those advances, both basic science and clinical, that impact us most as oncologists and urologists. This 264-page book is divided into three sections. The first section entitled ‘Diagnostic Advances: The Use of Molecular Medicine in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Genitourinary Malignancies’ contains chapters on epidemiology, the von Hippel-Lindau syndrome and gene, and new pathologic techniques. Additional chapters address RT-PCR and free to total PSA in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The second section discusses major advances in the treatment of organ-confined cancers and includes chapters on improved surgical therapies such as retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy and new bladder therapies. Sections on nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy, conformal radiotherapy and cryotherapy address the treatment of localized prostate cancer. Section three addresses medical advances and contains text on chemoprevention, total androgen blockade, chemotherapy for hormone-resistant prostate cancer, gene therapy and immunotherapy. The final chapter focuses on quality of life issues for patients with GU cancers. Most of the contributors are recognized experts in their fields. The subjects addressed are eclectic as would be anticipated in this sort of review. The quality and quantity of the new information summarized in each of these chapters varies, however in general most authors cover each of their chosen topics relatively well. In the first section, the reviews on RT-PCR and PSA biochemistry deserve mention. They provide a basic, easily understandable summary of these topics. The chapter on pathologic techniques for diagnosing GU cancer unfortunately provides only a tedious listing of molecular abnormalities described in various GU cancers, rather than identifying for the reader those recent advances that are most significant. A complete discussion of new techniques in conformal radiotherapy is provided, however a chapter on brachytherapy is distinctly missing. Some bias is presented in the cryotherapy and androgen blockade sections, providing less of a sense of completeness to these chapters. The chapter on chemoprevention provides interesting insight into this field and includes an in-depth discussion on the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial. The final chapter on quality of life issues for patients with GU cancers provides an excellent summary of healthrelated quality of life measures used in the field of medical outcome research. Unfortunately, the overall presentation in this book is somewhat disappointing due to a number of spelling problems, and the introductory pages were missing from the text I received. The editors’ stated task of publishing state of the art material is indeed difficult in this format because the field is advancing so rapidly. Overall, they have done a good job. This text would serve a selected number of individuals with an interest in several of the above topics, however would be difficult to recommend to the general readership. David F. Jarrard, Madison, Wisc.