Br. J. Dis. Chest (1987) 81, 305

BOOK REVIEWS Book Review Editor: Dr C. McGavin

Clinics in Oncology: Small Cell Lung Cancer

Ed. Stephen G. Spiro Eastbourne: Holt-Saunders Ltd. 1985. 1st edi- tion. Pp. 193. Price f15.00

Thoracic physicians usually establish the diag- nosis in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and many will need to give their own chemo- therapy. This book is an excellent and readable review on our present state of knowledge. The pathology is reviewed with useful advice on diagnostic traps. The importance of staging is stressed with the important recent finding that prognosis can be linked to simple tests such as levels of serum albumin and alkaline phos- phatase. This may protect poor prognosis patients from enthusiastic toxic chemotherapy which is unlikely greatly to extend life. The chapter on chemotherapy is well balanced and reaches the conclusions that there is little evi- dence of benefit from intensive regimens, alternating regimens or adjuvant radio- therapy. The chapter by Geddes on quality of life is thoughtful and written with elegance. He makes the point that doctors and patients may have different perceptions of factors affecting the quality of life and assessment of toxicity. In one study patients assessed difficulty in park- ing in the hospital as a more important side effect of treatment than was depression.

Criticisms are minor. It is stated that there is a high probability that the majority of neuro- logical symptoms associated with SCLC are due to tumour production of peptide hor- mones. There is no evidence for this. The management of drug induced leucopenia and septicaemia is important in avoiding unnecess- ary mortality and this is not adequately dealt with. The text is well edited and the cost is less than that of the fee for a schedule 2 radiograph.

Gerald Anderson

Essential Allergy

Niels Mygind Oxford: Blackwell Scientific. 1986. 1st edition. Pp. 480. Price f16.50

Essential Allergy provides a good introduction to all aspects of allergy for the medical student and general practitioner and serves as an excellent reference book on the subject for the specialist.

Both allergic and allergic-like diseases are discussed and described from a multi-factorial, organ-related point of view. This is valuable for the clinician as the emphasis throughout is placed on optimum patient care.

The text is easily read and I think this is principally due to the fact that it has been writ- ten by one author who appears to have a very logical and systematic train of thought. The book consists of 12 parts, each part consisting of short chapters, 107 in total. Each mini-chap- ter has its own headings, many illustrations. a few relevant references together with short abstracts and finally, a summary.

The text can be read at various levels: (1) A ‘Reader’s Digest’ consisting of headings, words in italics, and the chapter summaries. (2) An ‘Essential Reading’ including the full text and the essential illustrations. (3) A ‘Text for the Specialist’ involving all illustrations and legends as well as the article abstracts. After a brief history of allergy the author takes one through basic immunology and biochemistry, considering the characteristics of atopic and non-atopic individuals.

The second part goes into detail about char- acterization and detection of allergens. The final chapter of this part deals rather briefly with occupational diseases. Part 3 deals with the practical aspects of diagnosing and quan- tifying allergy and bronchial hyper-reactivity.