Ladanyi M and Gerald WL:

Expression Profiling of Human Tumors, Diagnostic and Research Applications, 399 pp, Totowa, NJ, Humana Press, 2003 ($175.00).

The study of the expression of genes has become very important in the diagnosis and therapeutic approach of tumors. The aim of this book is to help understand the technical aspects and applications of gene profiling in human tumors. Given the evolving nature of these issues and the information overload, this book constitutes a welcome introduction and comprehensive review of this important topic.

The book consists of 20 chapters that cover in great detail the technical, clinical, and research aspects of gene expression in human tumors. For this purpose, the editors have assembled a group of researchers, all of them experts in their fields, to write the corresponding chapters.

The first chapters are devoted to the basic concepts of gene profiling, followed by chapters that cover each organ system tumor in great detail, providing in-depth technical and clinical information of each tumor type. The two questions of how and why the gene expression profile of tumors should be studied are discussed in each chapter. The impact that these analyses have in the management of patients is emphasized throughout the text. The book also includes practical information in two important issues associated with the gene profiling of tumors: tissue arrays and tumor banking/bioinformatics.

The illustrations in the book, many of them in color, are all of high quality, and the references, listed at the end of each chapter, are up to date.

As with any book with multiple co-authors, there are chapters that are more comprehensive than others with minor overlaps of information between them. However, the editors have done a good job in maintaining consistency throughout the entire book.

The target audience of this excellent book includes all of those interested in the study of cancer, ranging from basic researchers to pathologists, surgeons, and medical oncologists. This book should stimulate the medical community, particularly pathologists, to think and look beyond the pure morphologic aspects of tumors.