This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of all aspects of childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, from basic biology to supportive care. It offers new insights into the genetic pre-disposition to the condition and discusses how response to early therapy and its basic biology are utilized to develop new prognostic stratification systems and target therapy. Readers will learn about current treatment and outcomes, such as immunotherapy and targeted therapy approaches. Supportive care and management of the condition in resource poor countries are also discussed in detail. This is an indispensable guide for research and laboratory scientists, pediatric hematologists as well as specialist nurses involved in the care of childhood leukemia.

Some people suffer from chronic, debilitating disorders for which no conventional treatment brings relief. Can marijuana ease their symptoms? Would it be breaking the law to turn to marijuana as a medication? There are few sources of objective, scientifically sound advice for people in this situation. Most books about marijuana and medicine attempt to promote the views of advocates or opponents. To fill the gap between these extremes, authors Alison Mack and Janet Joy have extracted critical findings from a recent Institute of Medicine study on this important issue, interpreting them for a general audience. Marijuana As Medicine? provides patientsâ€"as well as the people who care for themâ€"with a foundation for making decisions about their own health care. This empowering volume examines several key points, including: Whether marijuana can relieve a variety of symptoms, including pain, muscle spasticity, nausea, and appetite loss. The dangers of smoking marijuana, as well as the effects of its active chemical components on the immune system and on psychological health. The potential use of marijuana-based medications on symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and several other specific disorders, in comparison with existing treatments. Marijuana As Medicine? introduces readers to the active compounds in marijuana. These include the principal ingredient in Marinol, a legal medication. The authors also discuss the prospects for developing other drugs derived from marijuana's active ingredients. In addition to providing an up-to-date review of the science behind the medical marijuana debate, Mack and Joy also answer common questions about the legal status of marijuana, explaining the conflict between state and federal law regarding its medical use. Intended primarily as an aid to patients and caregivers, this book objectively presents critical information so that it can be used to make responsible health care decisions. Marijuana As Medicine? will also be a valuable resource for policymakers, health care providers, patient counselors, medical faculty and studentsâ€"in short, anyone who wants to learn more about this important issue.

Neuro-oncology has evolved substantially as a clinical and research discipline over the past few decades. Cancer Neurology in Clinical Practice: Neurologic Complications of Cancer and its Treatment, Second Edition provides clinicians from various backgrounds and levels of training with a reference to help focus the differential diagnosis, treatment strategy, and management plan for the cancer patient with neurologic symptoms and findings. The volume begins with an overview of the field of neuro-oncology and a review of the role of neuroimaging in the diagnosis of neuro-oncologic disease. Several chapters on interpretation and management of common neuro-oncologic symptoms follow. Subsequent sections contain chapters on the direct and indirect neurologic complications of cancer as well as complications of therapy. The final section focuses on the spectrum and management of neurologic disease in patients with cancer of specific organs. Cancer Neurology in Clinical Practice: Neurologic Complications of Cancer and its Treatment, Second Edition is an important new work that aims to broaden and deepen the familiarity of clinicians with the range and management of neuro-oncologic diseases in order to improve the quality of care for cancer patients.

Ben has cancer, but he also has a loving family and friends, a community fighting for him—and hope. When Ben finds out he has cancer, he learns a lot right away. He learns that cancer is something you fight, and that cancer isn't anyone's fault—especially not his. He discovers that many things change with cancer, but some of the most important things stay the same, and everyone around him wants to help him fight.

Cancer touches everybody’s life in one way or another. But most of us know very little about how the disease works, why we treat it the way we do, and the personalities whose dedication got us where we are today. For fifty years, Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr. has been one of those key players: he has held just about every major position in the field, and he developed the first successful chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a breakthrough the American Society of Clinical Oncologists has called the top research advance in half a century of chemotherapy. As one of oncology’s leading figures, DeVita knows what cancer looks like from the lab bench and the bedside. The Death of Cancer is his illuminating and deeply personal look at the science and the history of one of the world’s most formidable diseases. In DeVita’s hands, even the most complex medical concepts are comprehensible. Cowritten with DeVita’s daughter, the science writer Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn, The Death of Cancer is also a personal tale about the false starts and major breakthroughs, the strong-willed oncologists who clashed with conservative administrators (and one another), and the courageous patients whose willingness to test cutting-edge research helped those oncologists find potential treatments. An emotionally compelling and informative read, The Death of Cancer is also a call to arms. DeVita believes that we’re well on our way to curing cancer but that there are things we need to change in order to get there. Mortality rates are declining, but America’s cancer patients are still being shortchanged—by timid doctors, by misguided national agendas, by compromised bureaucracies, and by a lack of access to information about the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s cancer centers. With historical depth and authenticity, DeVita reveals the true story of the fight against cancer. The Death of Cancer is an ambitious, vital book about a life-and-death subject that touches us all.