Molecular Therapies of Cancer comprehensively covers the molecular mechanisms of anti-cancer drug actions in a comparably systematic fashion. While there is currently available a great deal of literature on anti-cancer drugs, books on the subject are often concoctions of invited review articles superficially connected to one another. There is a lack of comprehensive and systematic text on the topic of molecular therapies in cancer. A further deficit in the relevant literature is a progressive sub-specialization that typically limits textbooks on cancer drugs to cover either pharmacology or medicinal chemistry or signal transduction, rather than explaining molecular drug actions across all those areas; Molecular Therapies of Cancer fills this void. The book is divided into five sections: 1. Molecular Targeting of Cancer Cells; 2. Emerging and Alternative Treatment Modalities; 3. Molecular Targeting of Tumor-Host Interactions; 4. Anti-Cancer Drug Pharmacokinetics; and 5. Supportive Therapies.

This book describes molecular processes whose deregulation is important in the formation of tumors. The material is developed from basic cell signaling pathways to their roles in the clinical manifestation of specific cancers. Topics covered include molecular events intrinsic to tumor cells (leading to growth deregulation, extended lifespan, and the ability to invade surrounding tissue), protective mechanisms that prevent transformation (including DNA repair and epigenetic regulation), tumor-host interactions (with the endocrine system, the immune system, and blood vessel formation), and the underlying molecular defects of individual cancers.