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Nicholas James
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Cancer: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Nick James (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
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In 1961 John F. Kennedy pledged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Nine years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. Ten years later, Richard Nixon echoed this pledge by declaring a 'war' on cancer. More than 30 years later, however, cancer remains one of the largest causes of death worldwide, with around 1 in 3 developing the disease. Curing cancer is not 'rocket science', but the question is, why has cancer proved to be harder to
tackle than the moon landings turned out to be?

Cancer research is a major economic activity. There are constant improvements in treatment techniques that result in better cure rates and increased quality and quantity of life for those with the disease, yet stories of breakthroughs in a cure for cancer are often in the media.

In this Very Short Introduction Nick James, founder of the CancerHelp UK website, examines the trends in diagnosis and treatment of the disease, as well as its economic consequences. Asking what cancer is and what causes it, he considers issues surrounding expensive drug development, what can be done to reduce the risk of developing cancer, and the use of complementary and alternative therapies.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    9780199560233
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199560233
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    OUP Oxford
  6. Publication date
    May 26, 2011
  7. Language
    English
  8. File size
    940 KB
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nick James is Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Birmingham.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005OQGBUI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ OUP Oxford; 1st edition (May 26, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 26, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 940 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 153 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

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Nicholas James

Nicholas James

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rosie
5.0 out of 5 stars informative introduction and commentary
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2013
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This book provides a reasonably thorough introduction to an enormous topic. The development of cancer is described at a general level with examples and an introduction to oncogenetics; its treatment, again necessarily at a general level but explaining the main treatment methods and examining approaches for different cancers; ongoing areas of research and implicit problems in choosing priorities; and the size and economics of cancer's impact globally and in specific countries. James devotes a chapter to alternative and complementary medicine. James takes a fresh approach, is objective and, through the currency and extent of his expertise, is appropriately cynical about some disparities, even inequities, in the priorities and contradictions in the treatment of cancer in some jurisdictions. He drills down through statistics to identify important trends, some unexpected, across geographic regions, countries and cultures. His reporting of the evident importance of Vitamin D in cancer prevention may be worth the price of the book many times over. Contrary to the views of alternative medicine advocates, Vitamin C fares less well. Many pharmaceutical products are demystified.

Slight criticisms of this format would include the illegibility of some early tables which have been reduced in size and are now black and white. One can piece together some of what the tables are saying by crossing back to the supporting text a few times but, alas, that is not how supporting tables are meant to work.

I was expecting James, a representative of the medical establishment, to pay short shrift to alternative and complementary medicines. He devotes a chapter to these approaches which, given the other areas he had to cover, is generous but nevertheless will make him a target for those who would have the balance the other way. Fortunately, there are many resources on non-medical treatments available. While dismissing some quackery, James is generally fair and evidence-based, importantly highlighting the high risk that can exist if a complementary medicine confounds other treatments. This approach seems reasonable and the reader may consider his points in the context of the disparities, contradictions and trans-border inequities that James identifies in national treatment and pharmaceutical support regimes, and in the context of the commercial priorities of pharmaceutical companies when they try to dovetail with these regimes and appease investors and shareholders. While alternative and complementary approaches have potential risks and drawbacks, the reader is left thinking that it may be preferable to assess them more broadly against the scientific method than against expensive, complex and bureaucratic systems tailored for drug companies and their products. James may not share this view, but the strength of his book is that it provides a sound introduction so that readers may think around the topic as I have.

James has made very good use of the Very Short Introduction format. There are many topics that he has not touched upon but the reader will be better prepared to undertake further reading, to make sense of media, commercial, bureaucratic, even political, statements about cancer treatment. Most importantly, there is information to help manage personal risk and to talk to experts if necessary.
2 people found this helpful
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William P. Palmer
5.0 out of 5 stars Cancer: a very short introduction by Nicholas James.
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2014
Review of Cancer: a very short introduction by Nicholas James.

CITATION: James, N. (2011). Cancer: a very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reviewer: Dr W. P. Palmer.

The series of books published by Oxford University Press are short, well written, up-to-date books giving the latest information about more than 250 different topics. With scientific topics, the rate at which knowledge of an area changes can be very fast. In the case of this particular book on the cancer, this is very much the case, with a large amount of information only being discovered in the past ten years. As this book was written in 2011, much new information will have been discovered by now (2014) so that the book may already be in need of revision. The main chapters in this 135 page book are:

Acknowledgements xi
List of illustrations xiii
Chapter 1 The size of the cancer problem 1
Chapter 2 How does cancer develop? 24
Chapter 3 How is cancer treated? 45
Chapter 4 Cancer research. 73
Chapter 5 The economics of cancer care. 93
Chapter 6 Alternative and complementary approaches to cancer care. 109
Further reading
Index

There are 25 black and white illustrations and 8 tables. These illustrations are helpful, but the size of the print on some of them is so small, for example Table 1, page 6, that it is difficult to make sense of them. The book provides a large amount of information in a small space, but the consequence is that sometimes the most important issues are not clearly spelled out.

The final chapter on ‘Alternative and complementary approaches to cancer care’ is actually more general than just considering the approaches to cancer care as the author directs our attention to the lack of logic in paying large amounts of money for unproven alternative treatments. Some readers may take offense if their favourite treatment appears to be targeted, but it is always good to see what approaches the logical and informed mind would reject.

The book is well worth reading.

BILL PALMER
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Brian J. Hendricks
4.0 out of 5 stars An Easy Read for Such a Difficult Subject (4.5 Stars)
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2012
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The subject matter of this book is enough to make anyone want to pass on the recommendation that they may receive from Amazon.com or from a friend that may have read it. This is the way that I felt when I actually ordered the book. In fact, when it arrived, I quickly took it out of the box and shoved it into the book case to be read at a later date.

Once the book was finally picked up, I found that I could not put it down. Yes, cancer is a scary and macabre subject, but this book removes some of the horrific feelings that such a word conjures up. Dr. James somehow manages to weave his way through the seriousness of the subject by showing his reader just how much is known about the disease today when compared to earlier times. He explains how it (cancer) comes into being and ways that it is treated today, was treated in the past and will most likely be treated in the future. His writing style and understanding of the subject turned a dreaded and scary read nearly into a page turner.

One of the interesting things about the book is that on the back flap it talks about the kind of cancers that Dr. James treats and that he also works to inform people about cancer. This is exactly what he has done with this informative and even engaging book.

This is a terrible subject that many people do not want to think about let alone read about. And this is where the beauty of the book truly lives. It helps to demystify this dreaded word and diagnosis. Everyone brave enough to pick it up will come away knowing more about this disease than they may have thought possible and may even have a better sense of hope knowing what was and where understanding and treatment is headed.

Overall, highly recommended for its clarity and ability to inform the reader about such an ugly subject.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

SteveS
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting introducion
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2014
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Great introductions to this subject. Like most of the volumes in this series it is informative and well written.
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Katie Panteli
5.0 out of 5 stars love
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2013
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I'm a uni student and this is great as a small revision guide for my oncology module. brief and clear!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars For these reasons I can't recommend it wholeheartedly
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2016
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As someone who researches and teaches about cancers in a well regarded university I was interested in this book as an introductory source of information for my students. I would agree with some of the other reviewers that coverage is patchy concerning very recent developments, but this is understandable in a "very short introduction". However, a few silly mistakes make me think that the writing and editing of this book was rushed: yeast is described more than once as an animal (p24); H&Ws Hallmarks are described inconsistently (p33 vs p34). There is also some old/unorthodox terminology (e.g. ribose nucleic acid for RNA). For these reasons I can't recommend it wholeheartedly, however, on balance I think it is a readable and accessible overview of a complex subject, albeit oversimplified in places. I would also agree fully with the author (contrary to some of the other reviewers) that although complementary and alternative therapies are widely used by cancer patients, the scientific evidence underpinning them is weak.
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Mr. M. J. Reynolds
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Worthwhile Short Introduction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2015
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This is a lovely thought-provoking and inspiring little book giving insight and hope. We have come a long way in the understanding of cancer and the book celebrates that fact. I loved the discussion of cancer drugs and how they pass all the criteria and become accepted into the mainstream of treatment. I totally agree with the author that there should be research into the efficacy of 'alternative' therapies and the whole industry should be regulated more tightly given the huge sums of money involved. Professor James also makes the point that some of today's popular cancer drugs evolved from natural remedies. Another reviewer has criticised the book's grammar. I found numerical errors and which I have communicated to the author. In conclusion this book is a very worthwhile short introduction; educational and fun.
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Claudia
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2021
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Absolutely loved this, I rarely leave reviews but this book taught me so much I did not know. I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in science or cancer, especially students in medical or bioscience disciplines.
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