Main description:

In observing the development of modern scientific knowledge, many indivi duals have expressed concern over the rapid growth of information in various specialized disciplines. Over 100 years ago the first Secretary of the Smith sonian Institution, and more recently Dr. Vannevar Bush while proposing the modern expansion of the National Institutes of Health, both noted prob lems that prevented the proper utilization of information by individuals in medical and related scientific fields. These observations, tagether with con comitant implications of future difficulty, are particularly pertinent to the field of oncology. The rapid evolution of the latter discipline has largely been aided by the incorporation of concepts and methods developed over a long period of time, and drawn from a wide variety of other scientific fields. The large body of discoveries that have contributed to our current understanding of neoplasia, however, cannot be viewed as being made up of equal parts. They bring to mind Claude Bernard's view "des determinismes simples et complexes" in the physiological and biochemical regulation of bod ily functions. He was able to observe that the most important and basic of physiologic processes were destined to be fewer in number than those of less fundamental and more highly specialized purpose. He understood that in the future development of medical science, sturlies of the lauer would occupy much of the time and attention of investigators, and were likely to contribute much to scientific literature.

Contents:

Section I Biological Organization of Gastrointestinal Mucosa.- 1 Proliferation and Differentiation of Gastrointestinal Cells in Health and Disease.- 2 T- and B-Cell Populations in Gut and Gut-Associated Lymphoid Organs: Arrangement, Migration, and Function.- Section IIA Individual and Familial Susceptibility to Gastrointestinal Malignancy: Immune Mechanisms.- 3 Immunodeficiency Diseases and Malignancy.- 4 Recognitive Immunity in Colon Cancer.- 5 Immunological Dysfunction with Atrophic Gastritis and Gastric Malignancy.- 6 The Digestive Form of a-Chain Disease.- Section IIB Individual and Familial Susceptibility to Gastrointestinal Malignancy: Environmental and Hereditary Factors.- 7 Epidemiology of Esophageal Cancer.- 8 Epidemiology of Gastric Cancer.- 9 Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer.- 10 Heredity and Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer.- 11 Familial Polyposis Coli.- 12 Defining the Precursor Tissue of Ordinary Large Bowel Carcinoma: Implications for Cancer Prevention.- Section III Use of Experimental Models.- 13 Experimental Stomach Carcinogenesis.- 14 Experimental Colon Carcinogenesis.- 15 Mathematical Models of Carcinogenesis and Tumor Growth in an Experimental Rat Colon Adenocarcinoma.- 16 Development of Model Colorectal Cancer Systems for Pharmacological Research.- 17 Use of Experimental Models in the Study of Approaches to Treatment of Colorectal Cancer.- Section IV Future Directions in Early Detection and Diagnosis.- 18 Early Diagnosis and Detection of Colorectal Cancer in High-Risk Population Groups.- 19 Logic and Logistics of Monitoring Large Bowel Cancer.- 20 Enzymes of Normal and Malignant Intestine.- 21 Cancer in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Risk Factors and Prospects for Early Detection.- 22 Cytopathology of Human Gastrointestinal Cancers.- 23 The Skin and Gastrointestinal Malignancy.- Section V Future Directions in Therapy.- 24 Early and Definitive Surgical Therapy for Colonic and Rectal Cancer.- 25 Chemotherapy of Colorectal Cancer: A Critical Analysis of Response Criteria and Therapeutic Efficacy.- 26 Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy in Colorectal Cancer.