Cancer Epidemiology And Prevention

This much anticipated Third Edition provides a comprehensive presentation of the global burden and patterns of cancer occurrence, along with new developments in our understanding of cancer causation and prevention. Special attention is given to epidemiologic approaches that incorporate molecular biomarkers based on genomic and other emerging technologies, providing new insights into the role of genetic predisposition and gene-environment interactions in cancer induction. In addition, new chapters are included on social class disparities in cancer incidence and mortality, the role of obesity and physical inactivity in cancer etiology, the potential effects of electromagnetic fields and rediofrequency radiation, and the principles of cancer chemoprevention. The textbook is organized into five sections: Basic Concepts; The Magnitude of Cancer; The Causes of Cancer; Cancer by Tissue of Origin; Cancer Prevention and Control. In this new edition, Drs. David Schottenfeld and Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr. have enlisted three distinguished Associate Editors: Drs. Jonathan Samet of Johns Hopkins University, Graham Colditz of Harvard University and Alice Whittemore of Stanford University.

A basic textbook addressed to medical and public health students, clinicians, health professionals, and all others seeking to understand the principles and methods used in cancer epidemiology. Written by a prominent epidemiologist and experienced teacher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the text aims to help readers become competent in the use of basic epidemiological tools and capable of exercising critical judgment when assessing results reported by others. Throughout the text, a lively writing style and numerous illustrative examples, often using real research data, facilitate an easy understanding of basic concepts and methods. Information ranges from an entertaining account of the origins of epidemiology, through advice on how to overcome some of the limitations of survival analysis, to a checklist of questions to ask when considering sources of bias. Although statistical concepts and formulae are presented, the emphasis is consistently on the interpretation of the data rather than on the actual calculations. The text has 18 chapters. The first six introduce the basic principles of epidemiology and statistics. Chapters 7-13 deal in more depth with each of the study designs and interpretation of their findings. Two chapters, concerned with the problems of confounding and study size, cover more complex statistical concepts and are included for advanced study. A chapter on methodological issues in cancer prevention gives examples of epidemiology's contribution to primary prevention, screening and other activities for early detection, and tertiary prevention. The concluding chapters review the role of cancer registries and discuss practical considerations that should be taken into account in the design, planning, and conduct of any type of epidemiological research.

This superb text gives a concise, systematic account of what is currently known about the epidemiology and primary prevention for most forms of human cancer. Part 1 provides an introduction to basic concepts in epidemiology, a description of the global burden of cancer, definitions and characterizations of the various measures used, and approaches used to reveal genetic determinants of cancer risk and integrate biologic markers in the epidemiogic research process. Part 2 contains chapters of uniform structure on over 20 types of cancer, providing clinical and pathological outlines, descriptive epidemiology, and a comprehensive account of risk factors and their etiological importance. Specific sections address somatic and germ cell mutations that play a role in the occurrence of particular forms of cancer.

Epidemiological studies show that cancer incidence is far more dependent on the conditions of life than previously supposed. Classically, cancers occurred with heavy exposure to a specific occupational hazard, or were associated with habits. In some instances, research shows, the incidence of cancer falls when the method of work or the associated habit is changed. In short, variation in incidence is now known to be the rule rather than the exception in cancer. No cancer that occurs with even moderate frequency, occurs everywhere and always to the same extent. Sometimes it is even epidemic, similar in scale to an epidemic of infectious disease, but modified by the fact that the induction period may be as much as thirty years.Prevention of cancer is now coming to be regarded as a practicable alternative to its cure. We remain almost totally ignorant of how cancer is produced at the cellular level and, until we know this, our methods of prevention are liable to be cumbersome and inefficient. Ethical considerations and the time scale of the disease make it impossible to obtain experimental evidence in man and what action to take has been determined from observing nature's experiments and by analogy from experiments in animals.The evidence from epidemiological studies is of particular interest. Such studies suggest relationships that would never be thought of in the ordinary course of laboratory work and results that are directly relevant to the problems of human disease. The large numbers at risk and the intensity of the medical care to which people with cancer are subjected, make it possible to recognize relatively small improvements. Such practical decisions, based on information thus obtained, have largely eliminated the risk of cancer due to occupational hazards in several industries.

In 28 chapters, Global Epidemiology of Cancer provides a basic overview of the most commonly occurring cancers, their worldwide incidence, and mortality. Designed for the health sciences, particularly those in epidemiology, public health, and medicine, this comprehensive resource is ideal as a primary text for an overview course or seminar on Cancer or Cancer epidemiology. Key Features: - Backed with research and draws upon worldwide information to address the global landscape of cancer. - Offers clear, concise descriptions of each specific type of oncologic disease as well as its epidemiology, etiology, risk factors and preventive factors - Includes a wealth of information on the pathogenesis of the disease as we currently understand it at the molecular level.

Sixth edition of the hugely successful, internationally recognised textbook on global public health and epidemiology, with 3 volumes comprehensively covering the scope, methods, and practice of the discipline