The present volume is the first in the advances in oncobiology series. It is meant to be useful not only to clinical and non-clinical oncologists but also to graduate students and medical students. The individual chapters are presented as self-contained summaries of current knowledge rather than as reviews. The last chapter deals with the subject of chemotherapy.

The idea for this book arose during the 1985 Gordon Conference on "Mammary Gland Biology." New developments in the methodology of cell biology and the explosive growth of molecular biology had begun to impact upon our understanding of mammary gland growth and function. It seemed a propitious time for summarizing the current status of knowledge of the cell and molecular biology of mammary cancer and for attempting to outline future areas of concern and interest. The reviews presented here were completed by the Fall of 1986. Although new insights will surely continue to emerge, it is hoped that the material in this volume will form not only a current update but a basic core of information for future experiments. We have not attempted to cover all areas of mammary gland transformation. Those areas where recent detailed reviews are already available have been omitted. Also, the areas of normal gland development, cell ultrastructure, hormone responsiveness, chemotherapy and clinical aspects of mammary cancer have not been included. Instead, we have selected those areas where the development of new methodology, reagents and results have led to new ideas about mammary gland function and development as they are related to neoplasia.

The unlikely refuge of Shanghai, the only city in the world that did not require a visa, was buffeted by the struggle between European imperialism, Japanese aggression, and Chinese nationalism. Ernest G. Heppner's compelling testimony is a brilliant account of this little-known haven. Although Heppner was a member of a privileged middle-class Jewish family, he suffered from the constant anti-Semitic undercurrent in his surroundings. The devastation of "Crystal Night" in November 1938, however, introduced a new level of Nazi horror and ended his comfortable world overnight. Heppner and his mother used the family's resources to escape to Shanghai. Heppner was taken aback by experiences on the ocean liner that transported the refugees to Shanghai: he was embarrassed and confounded when Egyptian Jews offered worn clothing to the Jewish passengers, he resented the edicts against Jewish passengers disembarking in any ports on the way, and he was unprepared for the poverty and cultural dislocation of the great city of Shanghai. Nevertheless, Heppner was self-reliant, energetic, and clever, and his story of finding niches for his skills that enabled him to survive in a precarious fashion is a tribute to human endurance. In 1945, after the liberation of China, Heppner found a responsible position with the American forces there. He and his wife, whom he had met and married in the ghetto, arrived in the United States in 1947 with only eleven dollars but boundless hope and energy. Heppner's account of the Shanghai ghetto is as vivid to him now as it was then. His admiration for his new country and his later success in business do not, however, obscure for him the shameful failure of the Allies to furnish a refuge for Jews before, during, and after the war.