Cancer: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Kindle Edition] Author: Nick James | Language: English | ISBN:
B005OQGBUI | Format: PDF, EPUB
Cancer: A Very Short Introduction
Download Cancer: A Very Short Introduction for everyone book with Mediafire Link Download Link In 1961 John F. Kennedy pledged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Nine years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Ten years later, Richard Nixon echoed this pledge by declaring a 'war' on cancer. More than 30 years later, however, cancer remains one of the largest causes of death worldwide, with around 1 in 3 developing the disease. Curing cancer is not 'rocket science', but the question is, why has cancer proved to be harder to tackle than the
moon landings turned out to be?
Cancer research is a major economic activity. There are constant improvements in treatment techniques that result in better cure rates and increased quality and quantity of life for those with the disease, yet stories of breakthroughs in a cure for cancer are often in the media.
In this Very Short Introduction Nick James, founder of the CancerHelp UK website, examines the trends in diagnosis and treatment of the disease, as well as its economic consequences. Asking what cancer is and what causes it, he considers issues surrounding expensive drug development, what can be done to reduce the risk of developing cancer, and the use of complementary and alternative therapies.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Books with free ebook downloads available Cancer: A Very Short Introduction
- File Size: 940 KB
- Print Length: 144 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford; 1st edition (May 26, 2011)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0199560234
- ISBN-13: 978-0199560233
- ASIN: B005OQGBUI
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,531 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the positive side, the author correctly points out that:
- Mortality rates due to cancer vary around the world, but are generally quite high, especially in the developed world. Cancer is a HUGE problem.
- The ability to effectively treat cancer depends heavily on the type of cancer.
- Most results in cancer treatment have come from surgery and radiotherapy, and cancer drugs have been of limited benefit.
- The limited benefit of cancer drugs is partly due to their only working for a subset of patients (and we still are largely unable to identify those patients in advance), and the side effects of cancer drugs can shorten lifespan and lower quality of life. Moreover, when cancer drugs do 'work', the survival benefit is typically small (on the order of months) and only a small minority of responding patients see a large survival benefit (on the order of years).
- The cost of cancer treatment is huge and growing, and cancer drugs are a big part of that, despite their limited benefit.
On the negative side, there are three main areas where I think the book falls short:
- There are important modern areas of cancer research and treatment, such as epigenetics and metabolics, of which the author appears to be largely unaware.
- I think the author paints a bit too rosy a picture of progress being made with cancer treatment (though he does express reservations).
- The author is clearly uninformed and incorrectly pessimistic with regard to complementary/alternative medicine. While clinical trials in this area are lacking (but not entirely, and financial considerations are the main reason), the overall evidence in support of many of these CAM treatments is considerable.
This book provides a reasonably thorough introduction to an enormous topic. The development of cancer is described at a general level with examples and an introduction to oncogenetics; its treatment, again necessarily at a general level but explaining the main treatment methods and examining approaches for different cancers; ongoing areas of research and implicit problems in choosing priorities; and the size and economics of cancer's impact globally and in specific countries. James devotes a chapter to alternative and complementary medicine. James takes a fresh approach, is objective and, through the currency and extent of his expertise, is appropriately cynical about some disparities, even inequities, in the priorities and contradictions in the treatment of cancer in some jurisdictions. He drills down through statistics to identify important trends, some unexpected, across geographic regions, countries and cultures. His reporting of the evident importance of Vitamin D in cancer prevention may be worth the price of the book many times over. Contrary to the views of alternative medicine advocates, Vitamin C fares less well. Many pharmaceutical products are demystified.
Slight criticisms of this format would include the illegibility of some early tables which have been reduced in size and are now black and white. One can piece together some of what the tables are saying by crossing back to the supporting text a few times but, alas, that is not how supporting tables are meant to work.
I was expecting James, a representative of the medical establishment, to pay short shrift to alternative and complementary medicines.
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