Rapid advances in nanotechnology have enabled the fabrication of nanoparticles from various materials with different shapes, sizes, and properties, and efforts are ongoing to exploit these materials for practical clinical applications. Nanotechnology is particularly relevant in the field of oncology, as the leaky and chaotic vasculature of tumors-a hallmark of unrestrained growth-results in the passive accumulation of nanoparticles within tumors. Cancer Nanotechnology: Principles and Applications in Radiation Oncology is a compilation of research in the arena of nanoparticles and radiation oncology, which lies at the intersection of disciplines as diverse as clinical radiation oncology, radiation physics and biology, nanotechnology, materials science, and biomedical engineering. The book provides a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary survey of basic principles, research techniques, and outcomes with the goals of eventual clinical translation. Coverage includes A general introduction to fabrication, preferential tumor targeting, and imaging of nanoparticles The specific applications of nanomaterials in the realms of radiation therapy, hyperthermia, thermal therapy, and normal tissue protection from radiation exposure Outlooks for future research and clinical translation including regulatory issues for ultimate use of nanomaterials in humans Reflecting profound advances in the application of nanotechnology to radiation oncology, this comprehensive volume demonstrates how the unique physicochemical properties of nanoparticles lead to novel strategies for cancer treatment and detection. Along with various computational and experimental techniques, each chapter highlights the most promising approaches to the use of nanoparticles for radiation response modulation.

Propelling quantitative MRI techniques from bench to bedside, Quantitative MRI in Cancer presents a range of quantitative MRI methods for assessing tumor biology. It includes biophysical and theoretical explanations of the most relevant MRI techniques as well as examples of these techniques in cancer applications. The introductory part of the book covers basic cancer biology, theoretical aspects of NMR/MRI physics, and the hardware required to form MR images. Forming the core of the book, the next three parts illustrate how to characterize tissue properties with endogenous and exogenous contrast mechanisms and discuss common image processing techniques relevant for cancer. The final part explores emerging areas of MR cancer characterization, including radiation therapy planning, cellular and molecular imaging, pH imaging, and hyperpolarized MR. Each of the post-introductory chapters describes the salient qualitative and quantitative aspects of the techniques before proceeding to preclinical and clinical applications. Each chapter also contains references for further study. Leading the way toward more personalized medicine, this text brings together existing and emerging quantitative MRI techniques for assessing cancer. It provides a self-contained overview of the theoretical and experimental essentials and state of the art in cancer MRI.

Chemical Intolerance identifies phenolic (aromatic) chemical compounds present in natural foodstuffs, pollens, certain food additives, tobacco smoke, perfumes, air pollution, etc., as nonimmunologic, but pharmacologic activators of allergic reactions in chemically intolerant individuals. Biochemical pathway sequences, with supporting scientific literature, are outlined to elucidate the mechanisms associated with formation of inflammatory mediators (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes) upon activation by phenolic compounds and other chemical stimulants. The role of these inflammatory agents in respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and other disorders is discussed. Treatment modalities using precise dosages of selected phenolic compounds are outlined to provide clinicians with an effective means of therapy. The author also shares his own experience and personal findings based on 20 years of research, including his recommendations for therapy.

First Published in 1988, this book offers a full, comprehensive guide into the relationship between macrophages and Cancer. Carefully compiled and filled with a vast repertoire of notes and references this book serves as a useful reference for Students of Medicine, Oncology and other practitioners in their respective fields.

Gain mastery over the fundamentals of radiation oncology physics! This package gives you over 60 tutorial videos (each 15-20 minutes in length) with a companion text, providing the most complete and effective introduction available. Dr. Ford has tested this approach in formal instruction for years with outstanding results. The text includes extensive problem sets for each chapter. The videos include embedded quizzes and "whiteboard" screen technology to facilitate comprehension. Together, this provides a valuable learning tool both for training purposes and as a refresher for those in practice. Key Features A complete learning package for radiation oncology physics, including a full series of video tutorials with an associated textbook companion website Clearly drawn, simple illustrations throughout the videos and text Embedded quiz feature in the video tutorials for testing comprehension while viewing Each chapter includes problem sets (solutions available to educators)

This book offers an accessible and up-to-date reference on primate zoonoses. Recent years have witnessed a rise in human diseases zoonotically transferred from animals, with wild primates implicated in the spread of numerous newly emerging infections. The authors go beyond simply providing an inventory of diseases, helping readers to understand how and why they are transmitted. Important consideration is given to the contemporary cultural and ecological factors involved.

The field of thermal therapy has been growing tenaciously in the last few decades. The application of heat to living tissues, from mild hyperthermia to high-temperature thermal ablation, has produced a host of well-documented genetic, cellular, and physiological responses that are being researched intensely for medical applications, particularly for treatment of solid cancerous tumors using image guidance. The controlled application of thermal energy to living tissues has proven a great challenge, requiring expertise from multiple disciplines, thereby leading to the development of many sophisticated pre-clinical and clinical devices and treatment techniques. Physics of Thermal Therapy: Fundamentals and Clinical Applications captures the breadth and depth of this highly multidisciplinary field. Focusing on applications in cancer treatment, this book covers basic principles, practical aspects, and clinical applications of thermal therapy. An overview of the fundamentals shows how use of controlled heat in medicine and biology involves electromagnetics, acoustics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, and imaging sciences. The book discusses challenges in the use of thermal energy on living tissues and explores the genetic, cellular, and physiological responses that can be employed in the fight against cancer from the physics and engineering perspectives. It also highlights recent advances, including the treatment of solid tumors using image-guided thermal therapy, microbubbles, nanoparticles, and other cutting-edge techniques.

Debating Human Genetics is based on ethnographic research focusing primarily on the UK publics who are debating and engaging with human genetics, and related bio and techno-science. Drawing on recent interviews and data, collated in a range of public settings, it provides a unique overview of multiple publics as they 'frame' the stake of the debates in this emerging, complex and controversial arena.

The book outlines key sites and applications of human genetics that have sparked public interest, such as biobanks, stem cells, genetic screening and genomics. It also addresses the 'scientific contoversies' that have made considerable impact in the public sphere - the UK police DNA database, gene patenting, 'saviour siblings', and human cloning. By grounding the concepts and issues of human genetics in the real life narratives and actions of patient groups, genetic watchdogs, scientists, policy makers, and many other public groups, the book exemplifies how human genetics is a site where public knowledge and value claims converge and collide, and identifies the emergence of 'hybrid publics' who are engaging with this hybrid science.

Debating Human Genetics is based on ethnographic research focusing primarily on the UK publics who are debating and engaging with human genetics, and related bio and techno-science. Drawing on recent interviews and data, collated in a range of public settings, it provides a unique overview of multiple publics as they 'frame' the stake of the debates in this emerging, complex and controversial arena. The book outlines key sites and applications of human genetics that have sparked public interest, such as biobanks, stem cells, genetic screening and genomics. It also addresses the 'scientific contoversies' that have made considerable impact in the public sphere - the UK police DNA database, gene patenting, 'saviour siblings', and human cloning. By grounding the concepts and issues of human genetics in the real life narratives and actions of patient groups, genetic watchdogs, scientists, policy makers, and many other public groups, the book exemplifies how human genetics is a site where public knowledge and value claims converge and collide, and identifies the emergence of 'hybrid publics' who are engaging with this hybrid science.

Targeting the key active elements in the mechanism and application of apoptosis and its therapeutic implications, Apoptosis: Modern Insights into Disease from Molecules to Man covers apoptosis from A to Z. Comprehensive in scope, it explores a wide range of topics including various cancers, asthma, and multiple sclerosis as well as alcohol induced liver disease, chronic back pain, and cardiovascular health. With 40 chapters written by highly respected authorities, this single source reference provides researchers and scientists with the foundation they need.

This volume presents a systems approach to understanding and managing the AIDS crisis - an approach that addresses the needs not only of HIV- infected individuals, but also of families and communities at risk from AIDS. Discussions are included on HIV epidemiology and risk reduction, medical management of the AIDS patient, and neuropsychiatric aspects of HIV infection. Strategies for psychotherapeutic intervention, from individual through group to extended family system, are described in detail. The authors examine spiritual, religious and cultural factors in communities and offer guidelines for building a community network for AIDS prevention and intervention. Full consideration is also given to ethical and policy issues, and to the risks faced by health care providers. First published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Reflecting the increased importance of the collaborations between radiation oncology and informatics professionals, Informatics in Radiation Oncology discusses the benefits of applying informatics principles to the processes within radiotherapy. It explores how treatment and imaging information is represented, stored, and retrieved as well as how this information relates to other patient data. The book deepens your knowledge of current and emerging information technology and informatics principles applied to radiation oncology so that all the data gathered-from laboratory results to medical images-can be fully exploited to make treatments more effective and processes more efficient. After introducing the basics of informatics and its connection to radiation oncology, the book examines the process of healthcare delivery in radiation oncology, the challenges of managing images in radiotherapy, and the burgeoning field of radiogenomics. It then presents teaching, clinical trials, and research tools and describes open access clinical imaging archives in radiotherapy, techniques for maximizing information from multimodality imaging, and the roles of images in treatment planning. It also looks at how informatics can improve treatment planning, the safety and efficiency of delivery systems, image-guided patient positioning, and patient assessment. The book concludes with discussions on how outcomes modeling evaluates the effectiveness of treatments, how quality control informatics improves the reliability of processes, and how to perform quality assurance on the informatics tools. With contributions from a host of top international experts in radiation oncology, medical physics, and informatics, this book leads the way in moving the field forward. It encourages you to find new ways of applying informatics to radiation oncology and help your patients in their fight against cancer.

The most important radiotherapy modality used today, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), is the most technologically advanced radiotherapy cancer treatment available, rapidly replacing conformal and three-dimensional techniques. Because of these changes, oncologists and radiotherapists need up-to-date information gathered by physicists and engineers. Focusing on new developments and the preliminary clinical implementation, Contemporary IMRT: Developing Physics and Clinical Implementation discusses the relationship between these advances and applications. Capturing contemporary technological advances, the book reviews modern applications of IMRT and shows how IMRT is used now and how it will be used in the future. The book begins with a historical background of IMRT as well as a discussion of the current state of IMRT. It also covers technical solutions that have been commercialized, such as the sliding window technique, step-and-shoot, tomotherapy, and the Cyberknife. The final chapter explores imaging developments and new planning methods, including gradient-descent and split modulation. Covering recent advancements in IMRT and showing how these techniques and devices have been implemented, Contemporary IMRT: Developing Physics and Clinical Implementation provides state-of-the-art findings for oncologists, radiotherapists, radiographers, physicists, and engineers.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Filling a gap in the literature, this resource translates recent laboratory findings into practical applications for the prevention and control of lung cancer. Featuring chapters by seasoned researchers in the field, this reference reviews current advances in imaging, drug development, molecular therapeutics, genetics, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy, to stand at the forefront of technologies for patient diagnosis and treatment.

Assembling, reviewing, and synthesizing state-of-the-art information on translational research and therapies of melanoma into one convenient source, Melanoma: Translational Research and Emerging Therapies provides clinicians and researchers the necessary context and perspective to intergrate and effectively deploy cutting-edge therapies into daily practice. This source: synthesizes the scientific principles, clinical trial results, and clinical implications of emerging and translational melanoma therapies covers the entire range of translational research and therapies, including pathogenesis, progression pathways, immunotherapy, gene therapy, adjuvant therapy, surgical staging, and metastatic disease provides context and perspective to enable the clinician to select and use new therapies effectively and knowledgeably

Images from CT, MRI, PET, and other medical instrumentation have become central to the radiotherapy process in the past two decades, thus requiring medical physicists, clinicians, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and trainees to integrate and segment these images efficiently and accurately in a clinical environment. Image Processing in Radiation Therapy presents an up-to-date, detailed treatment of techniques and algorithms for the registration, segmentation, reconstruction, and evaluation of imaging data. It describes how these tools are used in radiation planning, treatment delivery, and outcomes assessment. The book spans deformable registration, segmentation, and image reconstruction and shows how to incorporate these practices in radiation therapy. The first section explores image processing in adaptive radiotherapy, online monitoring and tracking, dose accumulation, and accuracy assessment. The second section describes the mathematical approach to deformable registration. The book presents similarity metrics used for registration techniques, discussing their effectiveness and applicability in radiation therapy. It also evaluates parametric and nonparametric image registration techniques and their applications in radiation therapy processes. The third section assesses the efficiency, robustness, and breadth of application of image segmentation approaches, including atlas-based, level set, and registration-based techniques. The fourth section focuses on advanced imaging techniques for radiotherapy, such as 3D image reconstruction and image registration using a graphics processor unit. With contributions from an international group of renowned authors, this book provides a comprehensive description of image segmentation and registration, in-room imaging, and advanced reconstruction techniques. Through many practical examples, it illustrates the clinical rationale and implementation of the techniques.

Image-Guided Radiation Therapy presents key image-guided radiation treatment (IGRT) technologies for external beam radiotherapy. The book explores the decades-long technological developments that have occurred in the realm of image-guided conformal, customized radiation treatment. Expert authors, all of whom have actively participated in the development or implementation of IGRT, imaging, and enabling technologies, share their first-hand experiences on the science, clinical uses, and impact of these technologies. They describe kilovoltage and megavoltage imaging as well as radiological, ultrasound, and optical technologies for determining and validating target and patient positioning. The book examines how anatomical and biological imaging using CT and PET has contributed to the understanding of target volume boundaries and biological behavior. It also explores such innovations as 4D PET/CT and digital tomosynthesis. Advancing patient care, this book focuses on a wealth of hybrid IGRT technologies and devices for coupled imaging and treatment inside the radiation treatment room. It thoroughly covers the modalities, software tools, and imaging treatment geometries that constitute IGRT.

The unprecedented amount of data produced with high-throughput experimentation forces biologists to employ mathematical representation and computation methods to glean meaningful information in systems-level biology. Applying this approach to the underlying molecular mechanisms of tumorigenesis, cancer researchers can uncover a series of new discoveries and biological insights.

The First Cancer Systems Biology Book Designed for Computational and Experimental Biologists
Unusual in its dualistic approach, Cancer Systems Biology discusses the recent progress in the understanding of cancer systems biology at a time when more and more researchers and pharmaceutical companies are looking into a systems biology approach to find drugs that can effectively be used to treat cancer patients.

Includes Contributions from more than 30 International Experts
Part I introduces basic concepts and theories of systems biology and their applications in cancer research, including case studies of current efforts in cancer systems biology. Part II discusses basic cancer biology and cutting-edge topics of cancer research for computational biologists. In contains an overview of genomics, cell signaling, and tumorigenesis, in addition to hot topics like molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis and the molecular relationships between solid tumors, their microenvironments, and tumor blood vessels. Rounding out the book's solid coverage, Part III explores a variety of computational tools and public data resources that are useful for studying cancer problems at a systems level.

Cancer systems biology is still in its infancy as a field of study, but it is fast becoming indispensable in the battle to defeat cancer and develop successful new treatments. Cancer Systems Biology marks an important step toward reaching that goal.

Zika Virus Impact, Diagnosis, Control, and Models: Volume Two: The Neuroscience of Zika examines diagnosis, vaccines, and potential therapy methods for Zika virus syndrome. The book also details the neuroscience of Guillain-Barre syndrome, its effects and neuromuscular rehabilitation. It is designed to help readers better understand detection, therapies for Zika virus, preventative vaccines, diagnosis and associated microcephaly. Chapters on models enable further research and understanding. This book has applicability for neuroscientists, neurologists, virologists and anyone working to better understand the evolution and pathogenesis of Zika virus-related conditions.

Zika Virus Biology, Transmission, and Pathways: The Neuroscience of Zika, Volume One provides a detailed introduction to the molecular biology of the Zika virus and its features, transmission, and impact on neurological systems. Designed to better readers' understanding of the Zika virus, this volume features chapters on the immune response, molecular mechanisms, and other areas to better understand underlying pathways. This book has applicability for neuroscientists, neurologists, virologists and anyone working to better understand the evolution and pathogenesis of Zika virus-related conditions.

Country of Poxes is the story of land theft in North America through three diseases: syphilis, smallpox and tuberculosis. These infectious diseases reveal that medical care, widely considered a magnanimous cornerstone of the Canadian state, developed in lockstep with colonial control over Indigenous land and life. Pathogens are storytellers of their time. The 500-year-old debate over the origins of syphilis reflects colonial judgments of morality and sexuality that became formally entwined in medicine. Smallpox is notoriously linked with the project of land theft, as colonizers destroyed Indigenous land, economies and life in the name of disease eradication. And tuberculosis, considered the "Indian disease," aroused intense fear of contagion that launched separate systems of care for Indigenous Peoples in a de facto medical apartheid, while white settlers retreated to sanatoria in the Laurentians and Georgian Bay to be cured. In this immersive and deeply reflective book, physician and activist Dr. Baijayanta Mukhopadhyay provides riveting insights into the biological and social relationships of disease and empire. Country of Poxes considers a future of health in Canada that heeds redress and healing for Nations brutalized by the Canadian state.

The AIDS crisis reshaped life in Los Angeles in the 1980s and 1990s and radicalized a new generation of queer Asian Americans with a broad vision of health equity and sexual freedom. Even amid the fear and grief, Asian American AIDS activists created an infrastructure of care that centered the most stigmatized and provided diverse immigrant communities with the health resources and information they needed. Without a formal blueprint, these young organizers often had to be creative and agitational, and together they reclaimed the pleasure in sex and fostered inclusivity, regardless of HIV status. A community memoir, Love Your Asian Body connects the deeply personal with the uncompromisingly political in telling the stories of more than thirty Asian American AIDS activists. In those early years of the epidemic, these activists became caregivers, social workers, nurses, researchers, and advocates for those living with HIV. And for many, the AIDS epidemic sparked the beginning of their continued work to build multiracial coalitions and confront broader systemic inequities. Detailing the intertwined realities of race and sexuality in AIDS activism, Love Your Asian Body offers a vital portrait of a movement founded on joy.

Focusing on East Asia, this book sets out a framework for analyzing infectious disease threats in security terms. It covers the security significance of naturally occurring disease outbreak events such as SARS and avian influenza, the development and use of biological weapons by state and non-state actors, and the security risks associated with laboratory research on pathogenic micro-organisms.

Christian Enemark devises a conceptual framework for securitization that is useful for policy makers by using the overlaps and synergies between different infectious disease threats. The book draws heavily on material from public health and scientific literature to illustrate the cross-disciplinary requirements for addressing infectious diseases challenges in security terms. Fast-moving, naturally occurring disease threats are of increasing concern to governments and individuals, and it is therefore important to recognize their close relationship to the security challenges posed by Biological Weapons and pathogen research.

Disease and Security will be of much interest to students of international security, public health and Asian politics.

Tumors/cancers are characterized by uncontrolled growths of abnormal cells that extend beyond their usual boundaries and disrupt the normal functions of affected organs and systems. While about 75%-80% of tumors/cancers arise sporadically without a family connection, 20%-25% appear to be familial (including 10%-15% nonhereditary familial tumors [or familial tumors] and 5%-10% hereditary familial tumors [or hereditary tumors]). As nonhereditary and hereditary familial tumors often show both tumor-related and non-tumor-related (or syndromic) symptoms, they are referred to as tumor syndromes (or cancer susceptibility syndromes). In comparison with sporadic tumors/cancers, tumor syndromes (>300 described so far) tend to occur at a younger age, involve multiple organs and systems, produce multiple (often in a distinct spectrum) and bilateral lesions, form multiple hamartomatous, benign, or precursor lesions; locate in specific site(s), display unique syndromic features, and affect multiple members/generations of a family. This book provides state-of-art and authoritative coverage of nearly 100 tumor syndromes, with chapters presenting overviews of individual tumor syndromes in relation to their biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Featuring contributions from oncologists, clinicians, and specialists, the book offers a reliable, comprehensive reference on tumor syndromes for scholars and students of medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, nursing, public health, and other biomedical disciplines. Key Features Reviews the biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical features of tumor syndromes Contains up-to-date information on the diagnosis and treatment of tumor syndromes Includes expert coverage from leading oncologists and clinicians Related Titles J. R. McIntosh, Understanding Cancer: An Introduction to the Biology, Medicine, and Societal Implications of This Disease (ISBN 978-0-8153-4535-0) P. S. T. Shanmugam, Understanding Cancer Therapies (ISBN 978-1-1381-9815-9) J. M. Baehring and J. M. Piepmeier, eds., Brain Tumors: Practical Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment (ISBN 978-0-3673-9022-8) D. Liu, Tumors and Cancers: Endocrine Glands - Blood - Marrow - Lymph (ISBN 978-1-4987-2975-8) Dongyou Liu, PhD, has worked at several research and clinical laboratories in Australia and the United States for the past three decades, with a focus on molecular characterization of microbial pathogens and detection of human genetic disorders and tumors/cancers. He is the primary author of more than 50 original research and review articles in various peer-reviewed international journals, the contributor of 197 book chapters, and the editor of more than 10 books.

Written by a leading expert in the field, this book provides a clear and incisive analysis of the different perspectives of the global response to HIV/AIDS, and the role of the different global institutions involved. The text highlights HIV/AIDS as an exceptional global epidemic in terms of the severity of its impact as a humanitarian tragedy of unprecedented proportion, its multi-dimensional characteristics, and its continuous evolution over more than two decades. The careful analysis in this volume critically reviews key issues in the global response, including: HIV/AIDS as a development challenge North-South power relationships and tensions international and regional partnerships between donor governments and recipient countries governance of global institutions and impact on the capacity of developing countries to respond effectively to the epidemic prevention versus treatment as options in HIV/AIDS services how to make the money work in support of effective AIDS financing. Providing a comprehensive but easy to read and compact overview of history, trends and impacts of HIV/AIDS and the global efforts to respond effectively this book is essential reading for all students of international relations, health studies and international organizations.