Customer Reviews

The Biology of Cancer

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4 star:		(4)
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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.

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.

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.

First you must consider whom the author is- Dr. Weinberg is a world renowned cancer researcher who has made fundamental contributions to cancer research, discovering some of the most important oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes (Ras and Rb). He's also a member of the national academy of sciences, etc...

As a student working in a cancer research lab, I found the book to be highly instructive.
Sure, I can just read review articles especially Annual Reviews for a lot of the things in the textbook, but there is no better single source for all things related to cancer in one package.
The figures are very nice as well, and they are simplified for easy viewing (FACS plot will not have jagged lines, for example).
However, the book is not missing in terms of primary data either as it has plenty of data from primary sources to demonstrate many of the points.

For example, there is a 50 page chapter on p53 alone.
You're not likely to find a 50 page review article on p53 anywhere else.
And the text is filled with recent references too, as evidenced by a 2006 ChIP paper's figure, referenced in the p53 chapter.

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.

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.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of cancer biology. Excellent as introductory text for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate student. Written by a lasker award winner and one of the pioneers of the molecular biological study of cancer. The accompanying CD has intersting supplimentary material especially the videos that add to the utility of the book. The accompanying poster lists the most common interconnected pathways in cancer. Highly readable and uptodate. Highly recommended for purchase.

We adopted this text as soon as it was available for a senior level college course on Cancer Biology. The text is appropriate for those with a good basis in biology but does not presuppose additional knowledge of cancer. The focus is biased somewhat towards signal transduction and oncogenes. This is great in the course we run as we focus on the molecular basis of cancer.

There are a large number of pathology figures that are not always well integrated with the text, but could serve well in a more medically focused course. There are a few significant omissions that I expect will be filled in future revisions of the book.

Despite these minor criticisms, this is the best textbook I have found for a senior college level or early graduate level cancer biology course. It is well written, nicely illustrated and remarkably comprehensive for a first edition. The poster that accompanies it is a handy reference for basic cell signaling and is a staple on the walls of many labs.

This book is a good book for anyone who is new to the cancer field; provided you have taken cell biology, maybe with a year of biochemistry. Having taken those classes myself, this book was still a bit much concerning the amount of information in it. This book can become complex at times, but cancer is no easy subject. This book comes with a CD with videos, mp3 lectures, power point slides, and a poster outlining some of the pathways of cancer formation. I really enjoyed the amount of supporting evidence and references that author gave for anyone interested in a particular sub topic within the chapters. Also the "cartoon" drawings that are common in biochem or biology books (protein structure, etc) are accompanied with a lot of "experimental" pictures such as those from an electron micrograph. I recommend this book for anyone in the biology, biochem, or chem fields that are interested in the cancer field. Oh and I'm not taking a class with this book (I wish said class was offered), I purchased it on my own to see if this is something I'd want to do in graduate school.

This book is a fantastic read for anyone interested in the cancer biology. It is well-written, comprehensive, current, and the illustrations are superb. The enclosed CD-ROM of the book's figures has proved invaluable for creating Powerpoint presentations on various topics in cancer.