Book Reviews

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 118, NO. 2, 25 JANUARY 2020 307 of human papilloma virus related cancers, prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer are compiled by M. A. Curran and B. S. Glisson from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre at Houston. There are several on-going clinical trials to evaluate the safety, feasibility and efficacy of immunotherapy using neoadjuvant checkpoint inhibitors for early stage non-small cell lung cancer. S. Rosner, J. E. Reuss and P. M. Forde from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine at Baltimore summarize these studies and provide the rationale for neoadjuvant immunotherapy. Early results from clinical trials with neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade are promising for provisionally including the strategy in standard clinical care. CD3 bispecifics are those drugs which recruit and redirect T cells to kill tumour cells. They cross link a CD3 component of the T cell receptor with a tumour associated antigen and bypass the human leucocyte antigen. Their action is also independent of tumour mutational load. They are useful in combination with check point blockers. A large number of CD3 bispecific antibodies are in clinical development. Among them, blinatumomab has been approved for treatment of relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphocytic leukemia. Several others are being investigated for both solid and haematologic malignancies. In their article on CD3 bispecifics, R. A. Clynes and J. R. Desjarlais from Xencor Inc. at California also explain the management of cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity associated with the use of CD3 bispecifics. Novel therapeutic agents for multiple myeloma are mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, drugs that target anti apoptotic pathways and adoptive cellular immunotherapy. C. Kunacheewa and R. Z. Orlowski of University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre at Houston apprise on recent regulatory approvals for small molecules and monoclonal antibodies and outcomes of recent trials of novel agents for multiple myeloma. C. K. Kuhl of RWTH Aachen University in Germany deliberates on the current controversies on breast cancer screening, drawbacks of mammographic screening and describes the rationale and concept of abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He suggests that abbreviated MRI has a broad range of clinical applications which include screening for liver metastases in patients with cirrhosis, to rule out musculoskeletal injuries in the emergency room and to avoid sedation for MRI in children. Abbreviated MRI protocols are designed to answer specific clinical questions resulting in reduction in the time for image acquisition and interpretation. Three reviews relate to prostate cancer. One of them is an update on prostate magnetic resonance imaging for lesion detection and local staging. Another considers preclinical development of small molecule radiotracers for positron emission tomography imaging to target prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and the clinical utility of these agents for imaging patients with prostate cancer. The authors also remark on the potential role of PSMA targeted agents for imaging non-prostate malignancies. The third review on prostate cancer examines the broad landscape of therapy for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer and metastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer. Better knowledge of the different genomic pathways of these cancers and advanced functional imaging tools have aided the development of biomarkers and better treatment options in the management of patients with advanced prostate cancer. Other reviews in the book relate to (i) progress in the development of Zika virus vaccines; (ii) recent advancements and current status of living donor liver transplantations in the USA; (iii) mechanisms of action, metabolic effects, risk reduction in renal and cardiovascular outcomes, results of safety trials and safety concerns of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors; (iv) opportunities and challenges in mutation repair in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) by CRISPR/CAS-9 mediated genome editing and the lessons learnt from studies on gene editing strategies in DMD; (v) the novel approaches that employ globin gene addition and gene editing to correct sickle cell disease mutation and enhance production of foetal haemoglobin through genetic control; (vi) the state of the anti-sense oligonucleotide technology for treatment of genetic diseases, and (vii) the differences between Asia and the Western countries in the causes, screening programmes, diagnostic methods and treatment strategies such as the use of minimally invasive techniques and peri-operative adjuvant therapies for gastric adenocarcinoma. In summary, the latest volume of Annual Reviews of Medicine has concise yet comprehensive reviews which provide recent insights on pathogenesis and evolving strategies to improve diagnosis and treatment of several diseases. All articles have prefatory synopsis of the prior knowledge on the topics reviewed. There are clear illustrations of concepts and pertinent references. The book is thus illuminating and valuable for both physicians as well as biomedical scientists.