Cancer is one of the most frightening words in the language. It is a matter of great annoyance to the fund‐raiser for the Psychiatry Research Trust, for example, that if you say “mental illness” to people they simply pass by on the other side, while if you say “cancer” they will stuff money into your collecting box, before hurriedly running away in case even thinking about it is catching. Nevertheless, in advanced western societies, about a quarter of us die of cancers of various sorts, so it might be as well to learn something about them.
This is not really a book for a reference library, but every public library should have a lending copy. In spite of the millions that have been spent on cancer research we are still remarkably ignorant of what triggers off various cancers, and what can be done to treat them. What little we do know is clearly spelled out here, in a manner that is comprehensible to any fairly well‐educated lay person with a smattering of scientific vocabulary: the blurb claims that the book is written for readers with no formal knowledge of biology whatever, but I think they underestimate the ignorance of the lay reader. In the light of its suggested readership, it seems to me that rather more space could have been devoted to treatment, rather than just ten pages out of 200, but this, perhaps, reflects the state of knowledge. The chapter on “the future” also says as much about developments in fundamental biology as it does about possible new methods of treatment. At the time of writing, gene therapy seems extremely promising, and I would have liked to have seen more about it here. Nevertheless, this book can be strongly recommended. In addition to public libraries, libraries catering for schools of nursing, etc., should also consider acquiring it.
