Where do you begin to look for a recent, authoritative article on the diagnosis or management of particular malignancy? The few general oncology textbooks are generally out of date. Single papers in specialized journals are informative but seldom comprehensive; these are more often preliminary reports on a very limited number of patients. Certain general journals frequently publish good in-depth reviews of cancer topics, and published symposium lectures are often the best overviews available. Unfortunately, these reviews and supplements appear sporadically, and the reader can never be sure when a topic of special interest will be covered. Cancer Treatment and Research is a series of authoritative volumes which aim to meet this need. It is an attempt to establish a critical mass of oncology literature covering virtually all oncology topics, revised frequently to keep the coverage up to date, easily available on a single library shelf or by a single personal subscription. We have approached the problem in the following fashion. First, by dividing the oncology literature into specific subdividions such as lung cancer, genitouri nary cancer, pediatric oncology, etc. Second, by asking eminent authorities in each of these areas to edit a volume on the specific topic on an annual or biannual basis. Each topic and tumor type is covered in a volume appearing frequently and predictably, discussing current diagnosis, staging, markers, all forms of treatment modalities, basic biology, and more."

TH. BERCHEM ince its foundation 400 years ago, Wurzburg University has 1 S followed its purpose of safeguarding tradition and acting as a meeting point for scientists from horne and abroad; in short, it is a forum for national and international exchange, in accordance with its memorandum of establishment. The historie role of Wur- zburg University has been accentuated by its faculty of medicine, surgery in particular. One name, indeed, illuminates its excellent scientific reputation, a name representing a whole dynasty of scholars: Siebold. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Philipp Franz von Siebold's birth. He is one of Wurzburg's most famous scholars. However, we should remember that his grandfa- ther, Carl Caspar, originally contributed to a considerable en- hancement of this university's reputation: he was the founder and first head of surgery. CI like the idea that he came from my hometown of Nideggen in the Eifel region, but this is only of mar- ginal interest. ) When Carl Caspar came to Wurzburg in 1760, the medical faculty consisted of five students. Since then, the total number has grown to 20,000. In 1760 Wurzburg University was much dif- ferent from nowadays. Medicine at Wurzburg during the eight- eenth century meant the Juliusspital, a very famous hospital at that time and which still exists today. The garden pavilion of that hospital was Germany's first institution for anatomy.

A 64-year-old woman has been referred to the on-call general surgical team by her GP. She has been complaining of pain in the upper part of her abdomen and generalized itching. Her daughter has also noticed a yellowish discolouration of her skin. The symptoms started a week ago and are gradually getting worse. You have been assigned her initial assessment... 100 Cases in Surgery presents 100 scenarios requiring surgical treatment commonly seen by medical students and junior doctors in the emergency department or outpatient clinic. A succinct summary of the patient's history, examination, and initial investigations-including photographs where relevant-is followed by questions on the diagnosis and management of each case. The answer includes a detailed discussion on each topic, with further illustration where appropriate, providing an essential revision aid as well as a practical guide for students and junior doctors. Making speedy and appropriate clinical decisions, and choosing the best course of action to take as a result, is one of the most important and challenging parts of training to become a doctor. These true-to-life cases will teach students and junior doctors to recognize important surgical conditions, and help to develop their diagnostic and management skills.

New surgical techniques for the treatment of anal incontinence have given the increasing number of afflicted patients hope for a cure. Colorectal surgeons and more and more general surgeons are performing operations, yet until now they have not had a text that they can use as a reference work. The guidance and instruction that surgeons need are now available in this atlas. It describes every operation in technical detail, and the two-color illustrations clearly show the essential points of each procedure. The authors discuss thoroughly the indications for surgical treatment, its application to the individual patient, and post-operative care. The comprehensive scope of this book makes it a rich source of information for surgeons working outside highly specialized centers. For specialists, it is the only practical reference available on the subject.

"The experience of each one of us is the treasure of all. " Gerard de Nerval In 1952, J. L. Lortat-Jacob [2] reported the first programmed right hepatectomy, which had been carried out for a hepatic metastasis of colorectal origin. Today, excisional surgery of the liver has become a routine procedure, with a low mortality and morbi dity. The varieties of excision have increased and been modified in accordance with the site and number of lesions to be treated. These advances notably stem from both the work on the segmental anatomy of the liver by Couinaud [1] and that of Ton That Tung [3], which have opened the way to a simplified and segmental method of hepa tic resection that is both safe and reliable. This progress has been greatly facilitated by a better knowledge of the effects of vascular clamping of the liver, and by the intro duction of new techniques including per-operative ultrasound, the ultrasonic dissector and the argon coagulator. Improvements in anresthesia have also contributed to the safety of these procedures. The high incidence of colorectal cancer (the second commonest cause of cancer death in France) and the frequent occurrence of hepatic metastases from this tumour, more than justify the search for an effective therapeutic management pro tocol. The important place of surgical resection, the technical advances outlined above, and the prospect of new treatment modalities using adjuvant therapy, are additional reasons for preparing a report on this subject.

B. Raymond Fink Sheldon Roth and Keith Miller have asked me to record that the Third Conference on Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Anesthesia was held in Calgary last May "in my honor. " Such was my dear friends' gracious way of continuing a series that began at the University of Washington, where I hosted two, four, or five previous ones, 1,3-6 depending 2 on how far back one wishes to count. At that, Seattle took up where Paris left off in 1951. These occasions create their own unforgettable memories. This book captures the fine, invigorating ambience of the University of Calgary and the exciting explorations and com panionship of a gathering in a frontier territory of neuroscience. So, floreant symposia. They have progressively refined the quarry, from pathway to synapse to lipoprotein membrane to receptor and single channel, in heuristic convergences of neuronal physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology. Nevertheless, the anesthesiologist in me senses a certain disquiet, a certain claustrophobia provoked by the narrow confines of micropipettes. How much more tubular must tunnel vision become before the desired broad view emerges? At present, the advances in molecular neurobiology seem continually to increase the apparent complexity of the total problem and the conceptual distance between the reductionists in the laboratories and the holists in the operating rooms. Happily, what is also growing is the excitement in trying to bridge the gap. Perhaps it would be timely to regard general anesthesia not as a state but as a syndrome."

Rectal cancer is a major killer. Most of those dying after curative surgery suffer from recurrent disease in the pelvis. Local recurrence is also the only site of failure in up to 50% of patients. A disturbing fact is that the local recurrence rate shows considerably surgeon-related variances. There is now strong evidence that optimizing surgical technique by adopting the principle of total mesorectal excision (TME) will reduce local failure rate, increase the use of sphincter-saving operations, and improve functional results. Surgeons applying this surgical principle will consistently achieve similarly low recurrence rates.

This RRCR-conference-volume marks "number six" in a 20-year evolution of international conferences on the adjuvant therapy of primary breast cancer. Starting in 1978, a handful of some 80 en thusiastic breast cancer surgeons and oncologists, met in a se cluded mountain resort near st. Gallen in Eastern Switzerland, to exchange their early data of some pioneer trials on adjuvant sys temic therapy of early breast cancer, and to correlate their future research efforts to overcome the frustrating prognostic stagna tion of this dominant neoplastic disease in Western females dur ing the past decades. Repeated every 3-4 years, these St. Gallen International Conferences on Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer have continuously grown in numbers of partici pants and in normative, therapeutic influence by being published in major oncology journals 1-3], the last (6th) conference hav ing taken place from February 25-28, 1998 with more than 1800 attendees from over 50 countries worldwide. What is the fascination of adjuvant therapy in primary (early) breast cancer, and what has changed, during the last 3 years since March 1995, to justify another international gathering of this size, and of the world's leading experts in the field? There is no question, that providing even more effective care and designing appropriate recommendations for the multitudes of patients with so-called early breast cancer or at high risk of developing the disease, remain highly important public health goals."

The 20th century has finished, the century when surgery took huge steps forward thanks to progress in technology. Now we have entered the "century of biotechnologies", which will not only generate progress in surgery, but also lead to a real "cultural revolution" that will completely change approaches to solving different problems in medicine. The aim of this book is to bring surgeons closer to biotechnologies and to overcome the cultural gap dividing them from these new approaches. Biotechnologies are already proposed and used at different levels in surgical practice: in diagnostic technique, enabling practitioners to identify diseases at an early stage and follow their molecular modification over time; and in tissue engineering, where the use of "smart scaffolds" offers a possible answer to increasing demand for biocompatible tissues and organs in transplantation surgery. This volume focuses on the emerging field of stem cells, analyzing both their role as possible players in originating and perpetuating cancer - "cancer stem cells" - and, conversely, their extraordinary therapeutical potential. An additional section is dedicated to the evaluation and application of derived molecular factors that can enhance the physiological processes that are fundamentally important in surgery, such as hemostasis and wound healing. Surgeons have always been technologists, in the sense that since surgery began they have always needed technology, beginning with a scalpel and surgical instruments. They have always cooperated with technologists. However, in the new century, the first one of the millennium, a rapid increase in knowledge that is outside the realm of the surgeon's traditional technological training is imposing itself - hence the aim of this book. It is now urgent to encourage surgeons to embrace this knowledge (biotechnology) with confidence. By its very nature, biotechnology is completely different from the technologies used so far, because it escapes the senses of sight and touch, which up to now have been the essence of the surgeon's work. The cellular and molecular dimensions of biotechnologies are still far removed from most of the recent advances in modern surgical techniques. A common language between surgeons and biotechnologists will create further, revolutionary, progress in surgical sciences in the twenty-first century.

Unique case-based format facilitates understanding of difficult clinical scenarios Focuses on tips and tricks to help prevent common mistakes Key pictures show a range of colorectal pediatric situations

Traditional methods of medical education and training are changing rapidly. This volume integrates the printed text--as provided by leading experts in science and medicine--with multimedia applications using desktop conferencing and the Internet in the delivery of instruction. The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The George Washington University Medical Center, with the support of an unrestricted educational grant from the Healthcare Education Department of Glaxo Welcome, Inc. , has created a distance-learning lecture series on the Internet for continuing medical education. In this lecture series, leading scientists and physicians discussed the most current as well as future projected treatments of prominent afflictions of mankind. These chosen speakers, who are at the forefront of research and treatment in the field of biomedicine, build a structural framework for the audience in their field of expertise, and from there looked into their crystal ball and discussed their view of the future. The lectures, approximately one hour in length, were broadcast live from The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D. C. as part of the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. These lectures will be available on the Internet until 2001. In partnership with Medical Consumer Media, the lectures were simultaneously broadcast live around the world via the Internet with real-time audio streaming and digitized 35mm slide presentation. The lecture format was designed to foster questions which went beyond basic science and current treatments.

The topics in this book represent the presentations given at the First and Second Annual Meetings entitled "Critical Issues in Surgery" held at the Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort, st. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, November 1992 and 1993. This symposium was sponsored by the Department of Surgery, and the Department of Nursing Education and Quality Assurance of Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, the University of Medicine and Den tistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, New Jersey, as well as the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey. Chapter authors were charged with the task of writing brief overviews of major issues related to the field of general surgery and critical care medicine. The book is specifically tailored to the needs of general surgeons, allied health professionals and nursing personnel involved in all phases of caring for the surgical patient. Although intended as a reference source with emphasis on up-dated approaches applied in general surgery, it is hoped that the discussion of these topics will compliment other texts and manuscripts. Obviously, a book of this length cannot cover the whole multidiSCiplinary and complex field of surgery. However, the co-editors are certain that the annual appearance of this text will highlight comprehensive, new and interesting approaches to the field of surgery."

A unique reference manual for academic surgeons, this book discusses every facet of surgical research. From getting grant money to choosing a topic, reviewing the literature, planning and conducting research, and reporting results.

The introduction of computed tomography in the diagnosis of pathological intracranial conditions has had considerable significance in cases of cranio cerebral injury. The decisive diagnostic advantage lies in the possibility of demonstrating both gross pathological change directly as well as secondary changes in normal brain structures. Computed tomography has proved its considerable worth, especially in evaluation of patients with craniocerebral injury and its sequelae. The capabilities of CT were quickly recognized and use of the technique spread rapidly. It is likely that CT will be available within a few years in all hospitals and clinics treating patients with craniocerebral injury. We believe it appropriate to present a detailed report on our experience with CT in 1800 cases of craniocerebral injury treated in the neurosurgical departments in Miinchen-GroBhadern and Berlin-Charlottenburg over a period of five years. Both acute posttraumatic complications and late sequelae are discussed extensively. A large number of illustrations is provided in order to facilitate the reader's introduction to CT diagnosis. The great interest in our conjoint study originally published in the German language, induced us to translate this book and to update the clinical material. We wish to thank the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk, the Senat of Berlin, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich and the Freie Universitat of Berlin for the generous financial support which made this study possible."

Breast Cancer, the second volume in the MD Anderson Solid Tumor Oncology series, this book provides the general surgeon, surgical oncologist, and medical oncologist with the state-of-the art multimodality care for breast cancer. Divided into five sections, the text brings the field's recognized esperts addressing the current status of breast imaging, breast pathology, the role of breast surgery including management of in situ and early stage carcinoma, prophylatic mastectomy, axillary node dissection, sentinel node and lymphatic mapping, and outpatient mastectomy, as well as coverage of special selected topics featuring breast cancer in pregnancy, inflammatory breast cancer and breast sarcoma. An important section on future research reviews on-going studies for the use of in situ laser ablation, cryosurgery, and translational research to bring the busy practitioner up-to-date on state-of-the art advances. This book is a must-have resource on the full specturm of current and prospective treatment options for this challenging disease.

Dr Bovill is a remarkable person and this book is an eloquent expression of remarkable achievement. When, some seven years ago, I came to the North West from the relative psychotherapeutic luxury of London, I was amazed to discover a busy whole-time general psychiatrist who claimed that she and her staff were giving a comprehensive service for the treatment of psycho neurosis by psychological means. I did not accept the facts but I believed in the genuineness of the person, Diana Bovill. After careful observa tion and enquiry, my initial scepticism turned to admiration. I do not know of any psychotherapist who before has provided such skilled therapy for so many people at once. Another, and in some ways greater, surprise awaited me. Dr Bovill has consistently, dedicatedly, striven to describe clearly, and to evalu ate scientifically, her work - an attempt all too rare amongst psycho therapists. Entering psychiatry at a somewhat advanced age, she achieved the rare, and perhaps unique, distinction of being awarded a Doctorate of Medicine at London University for a study in psycho therapy research, approved by the doyen of British psychiatry Sir Aubrey Lewis."

Based on the authors' own tutorials and dissection sessions during basic surgical training, this invaluable guide to surgical anatomy, fully illustrated throughout with clear line diagrams drawn exclusively for this book, will provide the surgical trainee with an invaluable guide to this important part of surgical training. Each chapter begins with a topic list designed to help the reader plan and coordinate a programme of study. Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) have been included throughout, and are designed to illustrate the main points of each topic. Each question is accompanied by full model answers to help students acquire and consolidate their anatomical knowledge. This book will prove invaluable for both medical and dental students, and also for surgical trainees taking the MCQ component of postgraduate surgical examinations.

The aim of computer-aided surgery (CAS) is to advance the utilization of computers in the development of new technologies for medical services. The Asian Conference on Computer Aided Surgery (ACCAS) series provides a forum for academic researchers, clinical scientists, surgeons, and industrial partners to exchange new ideas, techniques, and the latest developments in the field. The ACCAS brings together researchers from all fields related to medical activity visualization, simulation and modeling, virtual reality for CAS, image-guided diagnosis and therapies, CAS for minimally invasive intervention, medical robotics and instrumentation, surgical navigation, clinical application of CAS, telemedicine and telesurgery, and CAS education. The ACCAS is also interested in promoting collaboration among people from different disciplines and different countries in Asia and the world. This volume helps to achieve that goal and is a valuable resource for researchers and clinicians in the field.

Advances in breast cancer research, achieved through the progress of knowledge and development of new therapies, have been translated into improved quality of care for breast cancer patients. Clinical investigations and clinical trials have made the largest contribution to the body of knowledge that finds its way to the patient. Never before during the past decades of management of breast cancer has there been such a fruitful intellectual cross-fertilization of ideas among individuals involved in the generation of hypotheses, basic research, development of drugs and treatments, conduct of clinical trials, and statistical evaluation - the results of all of which are now translated into progress in clinical care. Even issues such as the quality of life of breast cancer patients, once the domain for few, are now being openly addressed by trials and discussed in a much broader forum. The IVth International Conference on the Adjuvant Therapy of Primary Breast Cancer, also known as the st. Gallen Conference, was again attended by more than 800 scientists and clinicians interested in this broad spectrum of breast cancer research and the interactions between such diverse fields of interest and specialties as cancer pathology, molecular biology, and psychosocial oncology. This volume collects findings and conclusions presented at the conference.

Since surgery became a method of treating patients, progress in the field has been intimately associated with experimentation and serendipitous research. As in other clinical specialties advances in surgery can be considered to result from experimental attempts to increase basic knowledge and to improve technical skills. However, virtually in no other area do concepts and approaches of experimental research enter clinical routine as fast as in surgery. There are numerous examples of this. Thus, allocation of manpower and resources for surgical research can be considered particu- 1arly profitable as convincingly shown, for instance, in renal transplantation by comparison of the long-term burden of hemodialysis vs. kidney grafting, apart from the relief of suffering and misery. Surgery is a continuously spreading field, and so is surgical research. This volume is a case in point. Its spectrum reaches from basic molecular biological aspects of immune mechanisms to the current state of the art of pulmonary surgery of cancer metastases, and from the molecular processes of cell swelling in ischemic brain edema and blood-brain barrier damage to novel forms of resuscitation or of treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Surgical research faithfully reflects a constant reorientation of medical disciplines. Treatment of renal or gallbladder concrements was a major domain of surgery, where the introduction of extracorporeal shock wave treatment now supplies noninvasive, virtually conservative alternatives.

The ultimate "consumer" of the data presented at conferences on the primary treatment of operable breast cancer is the patient, and when, as in this disease, the benefits of therapy are relatively mod est, the availability and interpretation of the data from trials be comes an issue of primary importance. The effects of present treat ment are in fact such that more patients relapse despite therapy than are estimated to benefit from it. It is, therefore, extremely dif ficult for the physician to recommend unequivocally one particular adjuvant treatment modality for the vast population of women with breast cancer. The interpretation of results from clinical research-oriented pro grams is constantly applied, however, in the treatment of breast cancer patients outside of clinical trials. From presented or publish ed data, many physicians extrapolate indications for the use of a given treatment regimen for their patients, perceiving it as the "best available therapy. " It is essential that the "best available therapy" be selected individually for each patient. However, considering the modest effect of treatment upon outcome, it is imperative that those who provide the data - those who are involved in both pa tient care and clinical research - make it known that the best cur rent treatment for the population of breast cancer patients is avail able within the framework of clinical trials. In this way not only present-day patients but also future ones will derive the greatest benefit.

After a practical description of the endoscopic anatomy, the first part of the book deals with such topics as preparing and positioning the patient, anaesthesia, operation theatre layout and operating team, inducing pneumothorax, general operative steps, after-care in the hospital, prevention of thrombosis, prophylactic antibiotics, dangers and risks of the method, and the use of documentation. General operative steps such as thoracoscopic exploration and palpation intervention haemostasis andparenchymal leaks are described in a separate section. A special part isdevoted to the diagnostic possibilities and current indications for thoroscopy including: spontaneous pneumothorax, haemothorax, chylothorax; pleural empyema, bronchopleural fistula, extrathoracic and intrapulmonary cysts and tumours, pericardial fenestration, treatment of malignant effusions, and thoracal sympathectomy.

J. E. Fischer, M.D. Professor Greep, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure for me and the participants to be present at this International Meeting of Parenteral Nutri tion. This meeting would not have been possible five years ago. At that time we were still arguing about central vs. peripheral routes, efficacy of the tech nique, and still getting accustomed to our ability to support patients nutri tionally. Within the last five years these discussions, which seem almost futile in retrospect, have been put aside. Both techniques, we know how, work quite well and have their own indications. Having become comfortable with the technique, it is now time to enter the second phase of parenteral nutrition, and that is the differentiation of the technique for the benefit of different patients. Over the next two days we will be discussing several problems which at the present time are central to the entire subject of parenteral nutrition. Is a fat calorie the same as a carbo hydrate calorie? What is the effect on protein metabolism of the fat calorie as opposed to the carbohydrate calorie? Are they equivalent? Are'there situations in which one is superior to the other? Perhaps we will find out tomorrow in the panel."