As stated by Dr. O'Leary in the introduction, "this book was envisioned as a reference that would bring together current information on newer techniques in biology and medicine that find use in diagnostic pathology," and his aim was certainly well achieved with this publication.
The text is divided into three sections. The first section discusses some theoretical principles concerning oncogenes and tumor suppresser genes, as well as antigens. This section of the text contains a summary of the genetic and metabolic pathways that regulate cell growth, survival, and death, and includes current information concerning the biology of apoptosis. In addition, the section on antigens contains valuable charts documenting the percentage of specific entities demonstrating positivity for the select antigens discussed. The second section deals with methodology: immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques, blotting techniques, and methods of amplification. The third section discusses how the methodologies are applied to the individual organ systems, with additional chapters on infectious diseases and cytopathology. In addition, several of the chapters are interspaced with appendices, which present some of the specific procedures to be followed in the laboratory as well as quality control issues, the theory and principles behind the specific procedures, potential hazards, troubleshooting, etc.
This is a multi-authored textbook (there are 19 contributors, including Dr. O'Leary); each chapter is well written, well organized, and informative. There is, however, some unevenness in the amount of material devoted to the individual organ systems (there are only 4½ pages devoted to the testes, bladder, and prostate—while the section on the pulmonary system contains almost 39 pages), but each section is extensively referenced, with several of the chapters containing more than 500 citations!
Advanced Diagnostic Methods in Pathology provides an excellent, comprehensive review of the current state of the art. It is understandable, considering the explosive amount of new information that is becoming available to us on practically a daily basis, that some of the material that is presented in this book will soon be outdated. This does not in anyway detract from this excellent addition to the literature, and I am pleased to recommend this textbook to all pathologists who need to have a comprehensive understanding of "what is currently out there today."
