How Cancer Works » (1st Edition)

Lauren Sompayrac explains the basics of cancer: what it is, what it does, and what is being done to try to cure it.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Michele Lynn Thomas, RN(Union Hospital)
Description:This book discusses what causes cancer, how it affects patients, and the treatments. The author presents the information in terms that even a nonmedical reader could understand.
Purpose:The book gives an overview of cancer, then discusses nine "model" cancers to show how cancer works. The book is useful because it explains cancer in the simplest terms and the author meets her objectives.
Audience:It is written for healthcare professionals in the field of oncology, students, and can be understood by laypersons. The author knows how to format the information to maximize understanding.
Features:After an overview of cancer, the author goes through several types of cancer and explains causes, effects, and treatment for each type. The author gives good illustrations of how mutations occur. The drawings reinforce the information. However, some of the information on chromosomes could have been simplified.
Assessment:The book would be useful for a new nurse entering the field, a patient, or family member of a patient diagnosed with cancer as well as any reader who wants to learn more about cancer and its effects.