Understanding Cancer

Explains, in simple terms, the molecular events that drive cancers, current therapies and potential future treatments.

Robin Hesketh (Author)

9781316517178, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 June 2022

258 pages
18.5 x 13.3 x 1.6 cm, 0.37 kg

'… this is an enjoyable and compelling read and includes a list of references appropriate for each chapter and a helpful index … Highly recommended.' J. M. Miller, Choice

One in two of us will develop cancer at some point in our lives and yet many of us don't understand how cancers arise. How many different kinds of cancer are there? What treatments are available? What does the future hold in terms of developing new therapies? This book demystifies cancer by explaining the underlying cell and molecular biology in a clear and accessible style. It answers the questions commonly asked about cancer such as what causes cancer and how cancer develops. It explains how DNA makes proteins and how mutations can corrupt those proteins. It also gives an overview of current therapies and how treatments may advance over the next decades, as well as explaining what actions we can take to help prevent cancer developing. Understanding Cancer is an accessible and engaging introduction to cancer biology for any interested reader.

1. Painting a clear picture
2. Ancient history
3. Counting cancer
4. From DNA to protein
5. What is a cell?
6. Mutations
7. Causes of cancer that can be controlled
8. Causes of cancer that are difficult to control, accidents … and other things
9. Treating cancer by chemotherapy
10. The road to utopia?

Subject Areas: Cellular biology [cytology PSF], Developmental biology [PSC], Surgical oncology [MNK], Oncology [MJCL]