Wartofsky L (ed):

Thyroid Cancer: A Comprehensive Guide to Clinical Management, 800 pp, Totowa, NJ Humana Press ($175).

As stated by the editor, this is a multiauthor textbook intended “to fill the needs of practicing physicians for clinically relevant information about thyroid cancer and to serve as an extensive and inclusive reference source to clinicians managing patients with thyroid cancer.” The book is divided into nine sections that deal with thyroid nodules, thyroid cancer, papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, anaplastic carcinoma, lymphoma, medullary carcinoma, and miscellaneous and unusual cancers of the thyroid. Each section is divided further into chapters that examine clinical aspects, pathology, surgical approach, nuclear medicine and external radiation therapy, chemotherapy, prognosis, and so forth. Such a format facilitates the use of the text as a practical handbook for management, but it also causes numerous overlaps (e.g., cancer in children is covered in four different chapters, and there are different chapters that cover prognosis, follow-up, and response to therapy or specific tumor types). Differences of opinion on several issues reflect controversies on the management of thyroid cancer, the absence of prospective studies comparing various surgical and/or postsurgical therapies, and other aspects of thyroid oncology.

As often happens with medical books, the text becomes outdated fast. Most of the references in this book are from 1995 and 1996, except in the chapters that are written by the editor, which are not only up to date but also the most interesting aspects of the book. The book will be of interest to clinicians and pathologists who are involved with thyroid cancer.