, . 185: 117 (1998)

BOOK REVIEWSApoptosis. British Medical Bulletin, Vol 53, Number 3, 1997.

The strategy of maintaining metazoan life seems toinvolve investment in a superbly designed, highly effi-cient and tightly controlled removal kit that is compe-tent not only to kill unwanted cells on cue, but to burythe evidence, and fast.

W Nature, 1 January 1998

The term apoptosis first appeared in the biomedicalliterature in 1972. Those who attended meetings of thePathological Society in those days may recall the bemusedindifference engendered by presentations on apoptosis byAndrew Wyllie and his colleagues. The conceptual leap formany of us took place years later as the mechanisms ofapoptosis were unravelled and the fundamental role of thisprocess in normal development and many aspects of pathologybecame apparent. This issue of the British Medical Bulletin,edited by Andrew Wyllie, has 28 contributors. Andrew Wyllieopens the batting with an excellent overview of apoptosis. Thefollowing 15 chapters cover a wide range of apoptosis-relatedtopics, from signalling and control molecules to effector anddisposal mechanisms. The role of apoptosis in develop-ment, immunity, inflammation, toxicology, and carcinogenesisis dealt within individual chapters, as is apoptosis in thereproductive system and in relation to neuronal death. There isa fascinating chapter on viruses and apoptosis, giving aninsight into how viruses interact with and subvert the process.How did we think we understood pathology before themechanism of programmed cell death was revealed?

This must have been a difficult book to write, on a subjectof intense research and rapid progress. The authors werepresumably under strict orders concerning the timelinessof their contributions. The high proportion of referencesfrom 1995 and 1996 suggests that they obeyed their orders.Inevitably, important new discoveries have emerged sincepublication. Perhaps the most significant of these is whatNature has called the final cut. The identification of a specificapoptosis-related caspase-activated nuclease that cleavesnuclear chromatin. These on-going discoveries do not, how-ever, detract from the value of this book, which provides anexcellent account not only of the mechanisms of apoptosis, butalso of its role in many aspects of pathology. I wholeheartedlyrecommend this book to all engaged in pathology, as a sourceof information and inspiration.

D. H. WEmeritus Professor of Pathology

Southampton General Hospital

Human Cytogenetic Cancer Markers.S R. W and S S (Eds). Humana Press,

1997. No. of pages: xii+484.

This book is the latest in a series entitled ‘ContemporaryBiomedicine’, the first volume of which was published in 1980.

Previous volumes have dealt with human cancer markers(1982), serological cancer markers (1992), and cellular cancermarkers (1995), as well as many other topics. This bookcontains a series of chapters which is broad-based in terms ofboth authorship and content. It addresses specifically thecontribution of cytogenetics and allied technologies to theassessment of human tumours. Following an introductionwhich sets the subject of the book in context, there are twosections. The first describes technical adjuncts to conventionalcytogenetics, such as flow and image cytometry, in situ hybrid-ization, comparative genomic hybridization, and nucleic acidamplification methods. The second addresses the value ofcytogenetic changes in the assessment of tumours from specificanatomical sites (haematological, breast, colorectal, urogeni-tal, gynaecological, prostatic, pulmonary, cutaneous, brain,endocrine, pancreatic, and soft tissue). Finally there is achapter on special techniques in cytogenetics, which dealsspecifically with microdissection.

The purpose of listing the contents of the book is toillustrate the breadth of material covered. Inevitably, there issome loss of details as a result but the editors have minimizedthis by not including practical details. Thus, the text is not apractical manual but rather a synthesis of the practical role ofcytogenetics and allied techniques in the assessment oftumours. Nevertheless, methodological references are givenwhere required. Most of the chapters are well referenced (range12–203, median 80) and provide a good entry point to theliterature. Similarly, clinical application is emphasized whereappropriate. The majority of the book is illustrated in blackand white, but there is a section of colour plates which addssignificantly to the impact of the fluorescence-based tech-niques, particularly fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH),which are being increasingly used for cytogenetic analysis.

Overall, this is a good book both for those who are lookingfor a general overview of the cytogenetics of cancer and forthose who need a more comprehensive account of particulartumours. Its appeal is not restricted to cytogeneticists butrather extends to those interested in or working on thepathobiology of malignant disease. I would recommend it toanyone who wants an extensive broad-based view of the role ofcytogenetics, both conventional and molecular, in the analysisof human tumours.

C. S. HDepartment of Pathology

Royal Liverpool University Hospital

? 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.