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|||Promising Nontoxic Antitumor Agents from Plants and Other Natural Sources

I cannot recommend this book highly enough; it is the ideal reference for every professional – clinicians and researchers, as well as general readers and patients who require to know the most up-to-date research about the huge array of topics associated with cancer. To everyone who has ever wished to see compiled the massive research evidence of most natural compounds upon the action of cancer, this book is heaven-sent.

The subject range is mammoth, including: Parts I and II: A comprehensive examination of the cellular, molecular, organismic and immunological aspects of cancer (mutations, gene expression, proliferation and apoptosis, transcription factors, cell communications, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, immune enhancement and suppression); Part III: Clinical actions of trace metals, vitamin C and antioxidants, polysaccharides, lipids, amino acids and related compounds, including garlic, flavonoids, nonflavonoid phenolic compounds (curcumin, stilbenes, quinones), terpenes, fat-soluble vitamins and the interaction between natural compounds, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Then, following the foregoing 359 pages, there are 13 Appendices. These range from structural drawings and molecular weights of these compounds, to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and dose scaling, supplemental information for material presented within the main text (for example there are 129 references alone for natural compounds which induce apoptosis in cancer cells in vitro, and 118 references for natural compounds that inhibit increased vascular permeability, beneficially affect prostanoid and leukotriene synthesis and inhibit mast cell granulation in vitro). Appendix H, for example, presents lengthy tables of natural compounds – herbal compounds, antioxidants and nutritional compounds – which affect the immune system, and the composition of Chinese herbal formulas. There are appendices about predictive models of oral clearance, dose calculations (40 pages and 240 references!!), as well as a highly useful compendium of acronyms, helpful if you occasionally forget or become confused what DHA, EPA, SOD or PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor) stand for, plus an 18-page comprehensive index.

This book by John Boik, co-investigator of research projects at MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, and on the Editorial Review Board for the journal Alternative Medicine Review, is a masterpiece and massive work (> 520 very large pages), containing nearly 4,000 references to the published scientific literature.

The treatises explaining how cancer cells are initiated, progress and metastasize are extremely lucid, as are various theories explaining the actions of natural compounds and chemotherapy drugs upon cancer proliferation, and the known genetic bases of cancer. Well-presented diagrams illustrate the material – i.e. the Differentiation of Stem Cells, and there is plentiful use of tables. Each and every chapter and appendix is referenced throughout the text and followed at the end of each chapter by the numbered list of complete references.

To most researchers – biochemists, oncologists, molecular biologists, this book will illustrate and bring together the massive material assimilated over a scientific lifetime, filling in possible holes in the knowledge base.

For example, chapter 19 about Flavonoids has an introduction, defining the six categories, followed by a summary of research, oestrogenic and antioestrogenic effects, the effects of phytoestrogens upon proliferation of cancer cells, the effects of isoflavones in oestrogen-dependent tumours in animals, Type II oestrogen receptors, antioxidant effects, cytotoxicity, in-vivo antitumour effects, estimated therapeutic and LOAEL (lowest-observable-adverse-effects level) doses and potential carcinogenic effects of flavonoids, followed by 196 references.

This book will be going straight onto my already weighty shelf of cancer books, and will be used many times throughout my normal researches into cancer. Buy it today.

This book can be ordered from the Positive Health bookstore. Please click the Bookshop image at the top of the column to your right, then click on Cancer.