The war on cancer : an anatomy of failure, a blueprint for the future / by Guy B. Faguet.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Faguet, Guy B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Neoplasms.

United States.

Neoplasms--therapy.

Research Design.

Cancer--United States.

Cancer.

Medical Subjects:

Neoplasms.

United States.

Neoplasms--therapy.

Research Design.

Physical Description:

xv, 227 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Dordrecht : Springer, [2005]

Summary:

The National Cancer Act of 1971 propelled The War on Cancer, mainly by tapping the vast resources of the Federal government to confront the growing cancer challenge. As a result, all cancer initiatives funded by Federal dollars were channeled through a restructured National Cancer Institute and some predicted the conquest of cancer by the nation's bicentennial. Yet, over the ensuing three decades progress in the clinical setting has been slow, and cancer remains a largely incurable disease. After reviewing the history of cancer and its impact on the population, Dr. Faguet exposes the antiquated notions that have driven cancer drug development, documents the stagnation in treatment outcomes despite major advances in cancer genomics and growing NCI budgets, and identifies the multiple factors that sustain the status quo. He shows that, contrary to frequent announcements of breakthroughs, our current cancer control model cannot eradicate most cancers and the reasons why. Significantly, this book also delineates a way forward via a shift from the discredited cell-kill approach of the past to an integrated, evidence-driven cancer control paradigm based on prevention, early diagnosis, and pharmacogenomics. The author's views are based on data published in mainstream scientific journals and other reliable references, 432 of which are cited.

Contents:

Part I Cancer Statistics: Some Facts 3

Chapter 1 Assessing the magnitude of the problem 5

1 Cancer statistics 6

2 Cancer prevalence in the US, 2000 11

3 Historical trends: incidence, mortality and survival 1950-2000 12

Chapter 2 The problem is growing, not going away 19

Part II What is Cancer? 23

Chapter 3 Cancer through the ages 25

1 From ancient Egypt to Greece and Rome 26

2 The middle ages: Byzantium, the Muslims, and the pre-Renaissance 27

3 From the Renaissance to World War II 28

Chapter 4 Our current understanding 37

1 The genetic basis of cancer 37

2 How does cancer arise? 53

3 How does cancer spread? 58

Part III How is Cancer Treated? 61

Chapter 5 The cancer cell-kill paradigm and its corollaries 63

Chapter 6 Chemotherapy drugs 69

1 Historical background: Mustard gas 69

2 Fifty years of anti-cancer drug discovery: The role of serendipity and trial & error 71

3 Forty years of attempts to overcome cancer drug inefficacy 74

Chapter 7 Treatment outcomes: Dismal by any standard 85

Part IV Why Does this System Persist? 91

Chapter 8 The role of the National Cancer Institute 95

1 Historical Background 95

2 Current organization, role, and influence 99

3 Cancer centers program 100

4 Cooperative Trials Structure 100

5 Clinical trials 103

Chapter 9 Publications: The facts and nothing but the facts? 109

Chapter 10 From the doctors' perspective 115

1 Physicians qualifications 115

2 Factors that dictate cancer treatment 119

Chapter 11 From the patients' perspective 127

1 Patients' perceptions and expectations 127

2 Facing hard choices 134

Chapter 12 A vision for the future 145

1 Cancer prevention 146

2 Cancer screening 155

3 When prevention and screening fail: A new cancer treatment paradigm 164

Chapter 13 Shifting from the cell-kill paradigm to pharmacogenomics 171

1 A blueprint for future clinical cancer research 172

2 A blueprint for future patient management: proportional and compassionate 176.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-208) and index.

ISBN:

1402036183

1402036175

OCLC:

62701205

Publisher Number:

9781402036187

9781402036170

Online:

Publisher description