This book is intended as an introduction to the drug treatment of cancer. It is almost ten years since the last edition was written. In the intervening time, there have been numerous developments in cancer chemotherapy and in order to cover these the majority of the text has been completely revised and rewritten. In addition, two new chapters have been introduced, one on the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and the other on biological response modifiers. In order to incorporate this new information without any undue increase in the length of the text the chapters on a combined approach to treatment have been omitted. This is not because interdisciplinary collaboration is no longer considered important but is a reflection of the fact that, in most centres, it has become the norm in cancer management and its central role in successful treatment no longer needs to be stressed quite so strongly. The four chapters in the last edition which dealt with the team approach to cancer therapy have been replaced by a single chapter on the place of chemotherapy in the overall treatment of cancer. Unfortunately, despite all the innovations of the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that much of the promise offered by drug treatment during the 1960s and 1970s has not been fulfilled.

Section 1 The Principles of Cytotoxic Drug Therapy

1 Principles of Tumour Growth
2 The Effects of Cytotoxic Drugs on Normal Tissues
3 The Pharmacology of Cytotoxic Drugs
4 The Rationale of Cytotoxic Drug Therapy
5 The Management of the Side Effects of Cytotoxic Drugs
6 The Safe Handling of Cytotoxic Drugs
7 Resistance to Cytotoxic Drugs
8 Alternative Methods of Cytotoxic Drug Administration
9 The Development and Assessment of New Cytotoxic Drugs
Section 2 Biological Response Modifiers
10 Biological Response Modifiers
Section 3 The Principles of Endocrine Therapy
11 The Development and Rationale of Endocrine Therapy
12 The Clinical Pharmacology of Endocrine Drugs
Section 4 The Clinical Role of Chemotherapy
13 The Place of Chemotheraphy in Cancer Treatment
14 Childhood Cancer
15 Haematological Cancers
16 Solid Tumours.