Cancer of the digestive system, which includes the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas and gall bladder, represents a major cause of cancer mor bidity and mortality worldwide. In the year 2000, these malignancies were responsible for 30% of all cancers and 36% of all cancer-associated deaths (Parkin DM, Bray Fl, Devesa SS, Cancer burden in the year 2000. The global picture. Eur J Cancer 2001; 37: S4-66). This book provides a concise, but more than adequate overview of these malignancies and their premalignant states. It gives updated in formation on etiology - whether genetic or environmental, pathology, clinical features and treatments. It also gives information on screening, prevention and chemoprevention, where available. Understanding these latter features are of prime importance as we clinicians are moving from treatment of endstage disease, to prevention, chemoprevention and early diagnosis in order to reduce the cancer burden, to try and delay or at least modulate its manifestations and cure it by diagnosing in the earli est and curable stage.
