Oxford Textbook of Oncology 3rd Edition

Oxford Textbook of Oncology
The opportunity to compile a third edition of the Oxford Textbook of Oncology (after a gap of over ten years) represented a chance to deliver a definitive and comprehensive text detailing the evolution, evidence base, and current best practice in multidisciplinary cancer care. The first half of the textbook opens with introductory chapters covering the basic science that underpins our understanding of how cancer cells grow and function. These are then followed by sections looking specifically at the aetiology of cancer and the general principles governing modern approaches to oncology treatments.
The first half of the book ends with a look at the unique challenges presented by treatment of cancer on a larger scale within population groups, and conversely the importance of recognizing and supporting the needs of individual patients both during and after treatment.
Our aim for the second half of the textbook was to provide a series of disease-based chapters written by expert teams from across the globe. Each chapter takes a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and management of cancer, with sections covering the epidemiology, biology and pathology, radiotherapy, medical and surgical management of specific disease types.
When looking at the contents list for the new edition, you may notice that we have not included a chapter on childhood cancers.
We felt that any discussion of paediatric oncology that was limited to only one chapter would inevitably be too superficial to cover even the most central aspects of this important discipline.
Instead, readers will find that the focus of this volume is on the treatment and management of adult patients. For special paediatric considerations, we refer readers to Cancer in Children: Clinical Management (eds Michael C.G. Stevens and Hubert N. Caron, Oxford University Press, 2011). Now in its sixth edition, this book provides an excellent guide to the management of common childhood cancers.
One of the most important innovations in the third edition of the Oxford Textbook of Oncology is that it is available both in print, ebook, and online formats. One of the negatives of preparing a major textbook is that it may be out of date by the time of publication.
We seek to overcome this with regular online updates when change in knowledge demands. Purchasers of the print book will receive a free 12-month access to the online version of the book.
The online version contains all the material from the printed book, as well as extensive reference linking via PubMed. Over the lifetime of the book, additional case studies, figures, and other reference material will be made available as part of a series of regular updates that will be made to the online edition.
We would like to thank Beth Womack, Nicola Wilson, Caroline Smith, and the rest of the OUP team and the many international experts who contributed time, knowledge, and wisdom in writing this book.

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