Oncologic Imaging, Second Edition

Although the title might be slightly misleading, Oncologic Imaging is actually a compendium of information on the detection, diagnosis, imaging, staging, and treatment of cancer. This is the second edition of a multiauthor book that first appeared in 1985. Medicine, particularly the diagnosis and treatment of neoplastic disease, has changed significantly since then, and the new edition reflects these changes.

The first two chapters of Oncologic Imaging deal with detection, staging,screening, and classification of common tumors. These chapters are particularlyhelpful for the diagnostic radiologist. The next three chapters are devoted tonew imaging techniques, image guidance, and cellular imaging. Most of thesetechniques are in their infancy and still evolving. These chapters provide thereader with a valuable introduction to this technology but are not meant to be adefinitive text on the subject. For example, just one small paragraph is devotedto fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) imagingin breast cancer. The newer technique of computed tomography (CT)-PET, which isbeing used in some tertiary centers, is not covered at all. These chapters willbe very helpful to the clinician who orders the diagnostic exams, as opposed tothe radiologist, who may already have this knowledge.

I found the five chapters on techniques of radiation therapy to be verygeneral but extremely informative. As a diagnostic radiologist, I alwayswondered what "tricks of the trade" my therapeutic colleagues wereusing. These chapters offered insight into the inner workings of treatmentplanning and verification.

Although there is only one chapter on brain and spinal cord tumors, there arefour chapters on tumors of the head and neck. These chapters give an overview ofdifferent tumor types and their radiographic appearances. However, the bookcontains radiographic examples of only a minority of these entities. Diffusion,perfusion, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are covered. Thevalue of MRI spectroscopy is also discussed.

Although there is a very informative chapter on interventional techniques forthe diagnosis of breast cancer, a discussion on biopsy techniques for malignancyis much shorter. There is an in-depth chapter on chest wall malignancies (atopic that is usually not highlighted), 120 pages of discussion on thegastrointestinal tract, and a similar amount on genitourinary and gynecologiccancers. Three chapters on the musculoskeletal system include an excellentchapter on metastatic bone disease, and the four chapters on pediatric tumorsmay be the most comprehensive discussion on this topic in a radiology text.

The broad scope of this book precludes it from being an atlas of imagingfindings in cancer. An additional limitation of this and any text on an evolvingfield of medicine is that the book cannot possibly remain current for long. Themultitude of ongoing scientific advancements will quickly render someinformation in the text obsolete.

This book is unique in that it elucidates detection, imaging, diagnosis,staging, and treatment of cancer in adults and children in one text. I wouldhighly recommend this excellent text to all physicians who are involved in thediagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. Diagnostic radiologists will benefitfrom the all-inclusive discussions on staging, treatment, and prognosis ofoncologic disease. Therapeutic radiologists will get a better understanding ofthe multimodality appearance of the neoplasm they treat. Medical oncologistswill find this book particularly helpful in determining which exams they shouldorder to best diagnose cancer.