If there is one aspect of current cancer research that represents a major ch- lenge in both novice and experienced researchers, it is the rapid advance in our understanding of the disease. Researchers can be required to switch from analysis of gene expression to kinetics of protein activation, from genetic studies to the analysis of protein funtion. Cancers are highly complex disease systems and researchers aiming to understand the functioning of cancer systems require access to a wide range of laboratory techiques from a broad range of research disciplines. Increasingly, however, published methods are incomplete or refer back to a series of previous publications each containing only a small part of the complete pro- col. The aim of Ovarian Cancer: Methods and Protocols is to provide for ovarian cancer researchers in the first instance, a laboratory handbook that will facilitate research into cancer systems by providing a series of expert protocols, with proven efficacy, across a broad range of technical expertise. Thus, there are sections on tumor genetics and cellular signal transduction, as well as sections on apoptosis and RNA analysis. The value of Ovarian Cancer: Methods and Protocols to the ovarian cancer researcher will, I trust, be considerably enhanced by (1) the provision of a series of overviews relating to the biology, diagnosis, and treatment of this important neoplasm, and (2) the provision of a series of technical overviews introducing each part that provides an expert review of the applications and pitfalls of the various techniques included.

We are currently experiencing a fundamental shift in the way in which we approach the characterization of cancer. Never before has the make up of cancer tissues and individual cells been so exhaustively researched and char- terized. We are now capable of producing molecular "fingerprints" that ch- acterize the expression of all known and unknown genes within tumors and their surrounding tissues. More than 30,000 different genes may be measured in each patient's tumor in a single experiment. Simultaneously, novel therapies that exploit the molecular roadmap have been developed and are now being offered to patients. These novel agents, such as Glivec, Herceptin, Iressa, and others, specifically target individual genes within tumors and can produce d- matic responses in some patients. These drugs are only the forerunners of a coming tidal wave of novel therapeutics that individually target specific m- ecules within cancer cells-more than 300 such agents are currently in phase I or II clinical trials. This is an exciting time for cancer specialists and patients alike. However, if we have learned anything from the past 50 or more years of research into cancer, it is that Lord Beaverbrook, in founding the British national health service in the 1950s, was frighteningly prescient when he defined the primary goal of health care to be "Diagnosis, Diagnosis, Diag- sis. " Now, more than ever, it is essential that appropriate diagnostic methods and approaches are applied to the selection of patients for treatment.

Some years ago when I. assembled a number of general articles and lectures on probability and statistics, their publication (Essays in Probability and Statistics, Methuen, London, 1962) received a some what better reception than I had been led to expect of such a miscellany. I am consequently tempted to risk publishing this second collection, the title I have given it (taken from the first lecture) seeming to me to indicate a coherence in my articles which my publishers might otherwise be inclined to query. As in the first collection, the articles are reprinted chronologically, usually without comment. One exception is the third, not previously published and differing from the original spoken version both slightly where indicated in the text and by the addition of an Appendix. I apologize for the inevitable limitations due to date, and also for any occasional repetition of the discussion (e.g. on Bayesian methods in statistical inference). In particular, readers technically interested in the classification and use of nearest-neighbour models, a topic raised in Appendix II of the fourth article, should also refer to my monograph The Statistical Analysis of Spatial Pattern (Chapman and Hall, London, 1976), where a much more up-to-date account of these models will be found, and, incidentally, a further emphasis, if one is needed, of the common statistical theory of physics and biology. March 1975 M.S.B."

This practical manual provides a comprehensive yet concise guide to state-of-the-art molecular techniques and their applications. It starts with an overview of the essential principles of molecular techniques, followed by separate chapters detailing the use of these techniques in particular tissues and organs, and describing recommended treatment plans. Each chapter covers the tests available, their advantages, limitations, and use as diagnostic and prognostic tools, with key learning points at the end of each topic. Using both histologic and cytologic samples, it discusses how to interpret test results in a pathologic context and enables trainees and practising pathologists to gain an in-depth understanding of molecular diagnostic techniques and how to incorporate them into routine diagnostic practice. Aiding the daily practice of refining diagnosis, as well as offering a didactic approach, this book is an essential reference for practising pathologists and cytopathologists as well as trainees in pathology.