The study of the biology of tumours has grown to become markedly interdisciplinary, involving chemists, statisticians, epidemiologists, mathematicians, bioinformaticians, and computer scientists alongside biologists, geneticists, and clinicians. The Oxford Textbook of Cancer Biology brings together the most up-to-date developments from different branches of research into one coherent volume, providing a comprehensive and current account of this rapidly evolving field.

Structured in eight sections, the book starts with a review of the development and biology of multi-cellular organisms, how they maintain a healthy homeostasis in an individual, and a description of the molecular basis of cancer development. The book then illustrates, as once cells become neoplastic, their signalling network is altered and pathological behaviour follows. It explores the changes that cancer cells can induce in nearby normal tissue, the new relationship established between them and the stroma, and the interaction between the immune system and tumour growth. The authors illustrate the contribution provided by high throughput techniques to map cancer at different levels, from genomic sequencing to cellular metabolic functions, and how information technology, with its vast amounts of data, is integrated with traditional cell biology to provide a global view of the disease. The effect of the different types of treatments on the biology of the neoplastic cells are explored to understand on the one side, why some treatments succeed, and on the other, how they can affect the biology of resistant and recurrent disease. The book concludes by summarizing what we know to date about cancer, and in what direction our understanding of cancer is moving.

Edited by leading authorities in the field with an international team of contributors, this book is an essential resource for scholars and professionals working in the wide variety of sub-disciplines that make up today""s cancer research and treatment community. It is written not only for consultation, but also for easy cover-to-cover reading.

CONTENTS:
Section 1: The multicellular organism
1: The multicellular organism and cancer
2: DNA repair and genome integrity
3: Evolution and cancer
Section 2: The etiology of cancer
4: Genetics and genetic instability in cancer
5: Epigenetics
6: Viral carcinogenesis - an overview
7: Chemical carcinogens
8: Radiation as a Carcinogen
Section 3: How the cancer cell works
9: Growth factors and associated signalling pathways in tumour progression and in cancer treatment
10: Hormones and Cancer
11: Oncogenesis and tumour suppression
12: The signaling pathways in cancer
13: Cell cycle control
14: Cancer and cell death
15: Telomerase and immortalisation
16: Cancer metabolism
17: Chaperones and protein quality control in the neoplastic process
18: Oxygen and cancer: the response to hypoxia
19: Invasion, Metastasis and Tumor Dormancy
20: Cancer Stem Cells
Section 4: Cancer microenvironment
21: Cancer associated stroma
22: Blood vessels and cancer
23: Cancer Immunology
Section 5: Global vision of cancer
24: Molecular profiling in cancer research and personalized medicine
25: Proteomics and metabolomics applications in cancer biology
26: Cancer systems biology: from molecular profiles to pathways, signalling networks and therapeutic vulnerabilities
27: Cancer biology through immunohistology
Section 6: The biology of cancer treatment
28: Principles of chemotherapy
29: Immunotherapy and Tumour Resistance to immune mediated control and elimination
30: Biological effect of radiotherapy on cancer cells
Section 7: Conclusions
31: Benign tumours: the forgotten neoplasms
32: Conclusions: cancer biology, a moveable feast