UICC Current Treatment of Cancer – serie

Cancer in Children is the first volume in this new series, sponsored by the DICC, on the treatment of cancer. The editors and authors feel strongly that more standardization is needed on a worldwide basis in cancer therapy. This, of course, is only possible if experts from all countries subscribe to a joint policy of making their treatment designs available to practising oncologists all over the world. Current Treatment of Cancer will discuss all the equipment and methods now in use in cancer therapy. It will cover all types of cancer, thus providing the reader with comprehensive information on cancer manage­ ment. The appearance of a book on paediatric oncology as the first in the series is intentional: in recent decades there has been a tremendous improvement in the treatment of cancer in children, and there is hope for even further success in this fight. We are convinced that this book and the series it is introducing will help us to make a concerted response to the challenge of cancer.

This new series on the treatment of cancer is sponsored by the VICe. The editors and authors feel strongly that more standardiza­ tion is needed on a worldwide basis in cancer therapy. This, of course, is only possible if experts from all countries subscribe to a joint policy of making their treatment designs available to practising oncologists all over the world. Current Treatment of Cancer will discuss all the equipment and methods now in use in cancer therapy. It will cover all types of cancer, thus providing the reader with comprehensive information on cancer management. In recent decades there has been a tremendous improvement in the treatment of cancer, and there is hope for even further success in this fight. We are convinced that this series will help us to make a concerted response to the challenge of cancer. VICC Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme Ismail Elsebai Chairman VII Preface During the past two decades we have witnessed an exciting evolution in the un­ derstanding and management of hematologic malignancies. The number of drugs available 20 years ago for the treatment of acute leukemia was so small that the disease in children and in adults could be discussed within one chapter. Since then, rapid progress has been made in the management of childhood leukemia, making for a much better prognosis. Over the past 10 years we have seen the same developments in respect of leukemia in adults.

This series on the treatment of cancer is sponsored by the UICe. The editors and authors feel strongly that more standar­ dization in cancer therapy is needed on a worldwide basis. This, of course, is only possible if experts from all countries subscribe to a joint policy of making their treatment designs available to practising oncologists all over the world. Current Treatment of Cancer discusses all the equipment and methods now in use in cancer therapy. It covers all types of cancer, thus providing the reader with comprehensive infor­ mation on cancer management. In recent decades there has been a tremendous improve­ ment in the treatment of cancer, and there is hope for even fur­ ther success in this fight. We are convinced that this series will help us to make a concerted response to the challenge of can­ cer. UICC Treatment and Rehabilitation Programme Ismail Elsebai Chairman Preface Part I Members of two institutions, the Brompton Hospital in London and the Finsen Institute in Copenhagen, were invited to write on lung cancer, and after reading the manuscripts it was decided that the contents of three pairs of chapters overlapped sufficiently for them to be combined.