The Biology of Cancer [With CDROM]

by Robert A. Weinberg

Book Overview

The Biology of Cancer is a textbook for undergraduate and graduate biology students as well as medical students studying the molecular and cellular bases of cancer. The book presents the principles of cancer biology in an organized, cogent, and in-depth manner. The clarity of writing and the lucid full-color art program make the book accessible and engaging. The information unfolds through the presentation of key experiments which give readers a sense...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815340761
• ISBN13: 9780815340768
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Garland Science
• Length: 796 Pages
• Weight: 3.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.4" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive

As a colorectal cancer survivor, I've undertaken a self-study of my cancer in particular, and the disease in general. Saltz's Colorectal Cancer is the comprehensive text for me, but it is better read with a foundation in the nuts and bolts of the disease. Sompayrac's How Cancer Works is a wonderful text for explaining what the nuts and bolts are, but this book, Biology of Cancer, not only explains these in better detail, it also explains how researchers figured all this out. The illustrations, graphs and photos are worth the price of the book itself--you can see the discoveries unfold in front of your own eyes. You don't have to be a scientist to start reading it, but you will probably have to become something of a scientist and retain what you are absorbing as you progress through the book. This is a textbook that is something of an all-star collection of information from a variety of scientific research textbooks.

Biology of Cancer

Superbe book, both for scientists and teachers/professors. Clearly written, easy understandable, nicely illustrated and up-to-date...except the concepts of apoptosis. I would have expected that Rob Weinberg talks more about the role of apoptosis deficiency in cancer promotion and resistance to treatment. The biology of cancer is too much "proliferation-driven" in this book. But this is only a minor criticism. The book is really fantastic and should be bought by all lecturers, teachers, professors who have to teach cancer biology.

Excellent, Fascinating, Well-Written

This is one of the best books that I have read on any topic. The science of cancer is fascinating because it involves almost all aspects of cell biology. This book presents the subject in a clear, well-organized manner based on the experimental evidence. The author draws conclusions carefully always including possible alternative explanations so the reader senses the full complexity of the problem. He expresses a welcome skepticism about current cancer treatments and frankly discusses the controversies involved. The author has successfully organized a huge body of information in a way that makes it easy to read and understand.

Excellent Cancer Overview

As a first year graduate student in a cancer biology department, I have found this book to be invaluable. Weinberg's style of writing is very thorough yet easy to follow. The classical experiments and research have been covered in detail, yet it is up to date on all the current cancer findings as well. There are also "sidenotes" included throughout the chapters that give the reader relevent information on the topic at hand without cluttering the actual text. I would recommend this book to fellow graduate students and for undergraduate cancer classes. The book I ordered also came with a poster of "Pathways in Human Cancers" poster with much more details than Weinberg's "Subway map" of human cancer pathways.

The State of the Art as it is Known Today.

This textbook, aimed at the advanced undergraduate and graduate biology and medical students covers the basic biology of cancer at the molecular andcellular level. Research into cancer in many different directions has been continuing at an accelerated pace since about World War II. In 1975 a major breakthrough was made by H.E. Varmus and J.M. Bishop on San Francisco. The result has been the creation of the new branch of biology covered by this book. The amount of information discovered in the three decades since then has given us an immense database on the root causes of cancer. The basic discovery that cancer is not one disease but many, some 110 at last count, has led to vast amounts of data. This book begins to lay out the underlying laws and principles that are beginning to emerge from that data. At the same time, this book is written as a recruiting pamphlet to attract new generations of researchers to move the science forward. While the book points out the discoveries that have been made, it also points out areas where questions remain. At 850 pages, this is a large book, covering an immense amount of material. In addition there is a CD-ROM with even more material. It has figures, tables, micrographs loaded into Powerpoint presentations that cover each chapter which provides an excellent study aid. There are mini-lectures on various subjects. There are also several movies that will aid in the understanding of some of the processes involved. A poster 'The Pathways of Human Cancer' summarizes many of the signaling pathways implicated in tumor development. This poster has been produced by Cell Signaling Technology. The rate of development in the field means that this book will need a new edition shortly, but for the moment this represents the state of the art as it is known today.