The Biology of Cancer

(Edit: please note that this review is for the 2007 edition. )I think this is one of the best written technical books ever. The author is simply a gifted communicator of ideas and knowledge.Much of the book uses the thread of the history of cancer research to give a perspective on how knowledge of cancer biology was built up, and it helps immensely in terms of organizing the knowledge and remembering it.The author does an incredible job of going the extra mile to clarify and elucidate the biology. While you would be advised take a molecular biology course before reading this book, even if you don't, a lot of the biological mechanisms are explained so well they almost serve as foundation. And cancer makes a wonderful application for the molecular biology knowledge you acquired from other courses, while serving to reinforce and provide dramatic examples for that knowledge.The author also knows how to simply keep things interesting with an easy-to-read style, a good sense of "story", and he anticipates most questions that might need explaining.I'm sure future editions could only get larger in content due to the rapid pace of research. I look forward to anything written on the subject by this author. Perhaps the best strategy would be to try to keep the core book about the same length (of course updating as necessary), and spin off other books that provide depth in narrower areas. I hope the author continues writing more books on the subject.To be fair, it is probably easier to make a book on cancer biology more interesting than, say, a biochemistry book. But I'd sure like to see a book on biochemistry by this author.If I were to add anything to the book, it might be to review or summarize the various "drivers" of cancer that are covered (and discovered over the years) throughout the book, so you get a little more clarity on how they interact developmentally. For example, while certain mutations drive cancer, do they also require other cell changes or are they sufficient, etc. I think the answer is well explained if you read carefully, but perhaps a diagram of all the developmental pathways (evolution of cell changes) to uncontrolled cell division could be laid out somehow in one big picture, like a directed graph.

First off I need to state that I am not an oncologist, oncology fellow or graduate student. I am an internist that practices general internal medicine. I found this book to be absolutely fascinating and a must read for all physicians, regardless of specialty. It is well written and Dr. Weinberg takes an incredibly complex topic and lays it out step by step in a fashion that if read slowly enough, and scrupulously, unfolds into a beautifully laid out system that makes the reader want to keep reading, and learning, and finally understanding why cancer is such a formidable foe. This topic is a difficult read in any format however it is presented in such a way in this textbook like style that a generalist like myself, many years away from medical school, could follow it like a novel. I strongly recommend this book to those that want an understanding of how cancers come about in normal tissues and how it is they can survive, and thrive and too often triumph. This book is not only an academic exercise but has been invaluable to me in my practice. Every day one comes across the terms that the reader learns in this book. This includes cell signaling, cell membrane receptors, and targeted therapies directed at molecules found in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. I will buy this book again if an updated edition comes out in the future. If you love medicine and realize that you need to truly understand the pathophysiology or molecular biology of cancer to be better prepared to take care of your patients, then buy this book.

I took this for Cancer Biology(BIO 5640) at Wayne State. Hated every minute of it at first due to the enormous amount of info but I caught up after a while, got a really strong grade, and learned a ridiculous amount of Bio. The class was taught through the book.About the book, it's funny, I can't seem to decide if it was really good or bad. I feel like it started off really slow explaining the mechanisms and types of cancers in general, but then took off really fast as I got deeper into the book. The problem was that I couldn't differentiate between the frequency of some cancers. Meaning, I learned about general types of cancers at first. But then, I learned about rare types of cancers due to certain mutations later on. In the book, both were covered as though they occur in equal frequencies when in reality those certain mutations were very rare. They went into a lot of depth into different types of mutations, but I couldn't differentiate the significance of them until asking my professor about them.The book was very good in general but it was just confusing at certain points that made it really difficult to have a well-rounded understanding. I would've gave it 5 stars if it weren't these issues. I learned so much from this book.

Love the book but came to me damaged.

改訂されるごとに詳細な部分のUp-to-dateな情報が加わったりしています。ですがベースとなる腫瘍に対する根源的な概念は変わらず半永久的な名著といえます。僕の所属するラボでは毎週、院生を中心にしてチャプターごとに輪読会をしていますが、英語版（原著）では図のCD-ROMが付録についているので、英語に自信がある方は是非こちらのご購入お勧めします!!!EMT、ニッチ、癌幹細胞の説明部分がやはりもっともインパクトありですね。AACRでの講演もOpen Accessなので是非聴いてみましょう

It's a book for your bookcase there is no doubt about this. The book is written more for graduate students that have good knowledge about molecular biology and cancer. That does not mean that the book is unsuitable for undergraduate students of Medicine or Pharmacy and generaly for Schools of Health Sciences. In last semester, I and my team we made a work for a subject in our School about cancer and especially in Metastasis and Antiangiogenic Drugs. We are undergraduate students and the book was really helpful. I am sure that I am going to use this book again in future as an undergraduate or graduate student. As I said before if you have some basic knowledge of Molecular Biology it would be easier to study and understand the complicated Biology of Cancer. Personally I bought this book from Amazon, which arrived in excellent condition and in estimated date. If you are a student of Medicine or Pharmacy, and if you are interested in cancer I recommend this book undoubtably. Is the ''BIBLE'' of Cancer.

Good textbook, covers the basic principles of cancer and goes into depth on some other aspects. Met the requirements for a lecture unit but didn't surpass them

No problems with the seller. On time and as described. The text book itself labours the point a little. By and large it's clear and concise but for some topics it is a bit wordy. That said I have not found a better text book than this yet.