Cancer

This updated edition offers new information about over 900 topics in cancer. Written by physicians, nurses, and professional medical writers, this important resource will also be of interest to public library patrons, premedical students, and those building collections for the patient population.

Coverage includes diseases, conditions, medications, procedures, specialists, social issues, personal coping tips, print and online academic resources, and support resources. Salem Health: Cancer, 2nd Edition alphabetically arranges over 900 essays on all aspects of cancer for all nonspecialist interest groups - from those who have been diagnosed to caregivers, family members, students, and readers with a general interest in health. The essays in this 4-volume set address diseases, conditions, symptoms, cancer-related syndromes, chemotherapy and other drugs and drug classes, cancer centers, genetics, the biology of cancer, medical specialties, tests, procedures, complimentary and alternative therapies, lifestyles, healthy and preventive strategies, and the many social and personal issues surrounding cancer, from cancer's impact on minority populations to personal finances, insurance, personal relationships, and emotional coping.

Essays in this set range from one to five pages in length and are designed for the reader for whom the information is compelling or urgent, fostering quick identification and retrieval of essential information. All essays present a capsule definition of the topic and list sources of further information from both print and online resources. The information is presented in one of six standard essay formats by type of topic: Diseases and Conditions - Essays list ""also known as"" names and describe related conditions, risk factors, the disease process, incidence, symptoms, screening and diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis; Carcinogens - These essays list ""also known as"" names for the chemical or substance, cancers related to the carcinogen, exposure routes, principal places where the substance is found, populations at risk, symptoms to watch for, and a brief history of how we came to identify the substance as a carcinogen; Drugs - Essays list the ATC code if one exists; the types of cancer, side effect, or other condition for which the drug is indicated; the delivery routes (such as pill form or injection); the way the drug works; and side effects; Procedures - These essays apprise patients and their caregivers of what cancers are addressed, why the procedure is performed, how to prepare, aftercare, risks, and the range of results; Medical Specialties - Essays identify not only the names of the specializations but also related subspecialists, the cancers they treat, how they are trained and certified, and the range of services and procedures they perform; Social and Personal Issues - includes essays on lifestyle choices, nutritional supplements, and complimentary or alternative therapies.

Special features of this set include tables throughout identifying the most important chemotherapeutic and other drugs, as well as the symptoms and conditions they address, population statistics, survival rates, and other core information. Photographs display for readers typical instances of lesions, tumors, procedures, and anatomical cross-sections to locate areas of the body affected. In addition, 8 appendixes at the end of the final volume list Associations and Agencies, Cancer Centers and Hospitals, and Cancer Support Groups, all of which contain the organizations' web sites. In addition, the last volume closes with a master list of carcinogens and where these are found, two comprehensive tables that identify Drugs by Generic Name and Drugs by Trade Name (including notes on their uses), a Glossary of cancer terms (those not covered in the main essays), a general bibliography by category (types of cancers and other special interest areas), and a comprehensive subject index.