A conversation with world-renowned editors of one of the most-read textbooks on the latest advances in oncology.
Oncology has been a fast-paced medical specialty for decades, with new developments and discoveries accelerating every year. Internationally recognized for their accomplishments as pioneers in the field of oncology, Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD, and his colleagues Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, and Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD, discuss the gold-standard oncology text's success over 40 years of publication.
Q: With the publication of the 12th Edition, Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology will have been in print for 40 years. Why do you think the book has been so successful all these years?
A (Rosenberg): When the 1st Edition was published in 1982, there were no multidisciplinary cancer texts available. While the basic science was bountiful, its applicability to clinical practice was spotty. By combining the principles (the science) and practice (therapy) of oncology in one text, the readers could see for themselves what was known and what was considered the best practice of cancer medicine.
A (DeVita): When we sat down over 40 years ago to write this book, the original plan was to divide the text into two major parts: the first section covering the science of oncology (the Principles), the second the practice of oncology, representing the three major approaches to therapy: surgery, medical and radiation, and emphasizing treatment by stage. That is the logic of the book, which remains in place to this day.
A (Lawrence): The text has also changed over the years. It has evolved in response to how the world has changed. We’ve listened to feedback and adjusted the text to respond to the evolving needs of oncologists and cancer patients.
Q2: What excites you most about the 12th Edition of the book?
A (DeVita): The 12th Edition actually contains two major departures from previous editions, which reflect the changes happening in oncology.
The first major change is that up until the 4th Edition in 1993, information on the molecular biology of cancer was scattered throughout the text. Then in the 5th Edition, 1997, we started collecting and presenting information on molecular biology according to tumor type and placed it in a separate chapter preceding each main disease-oriented chapter.
But with the 10th (2015) and 11th (2019) Editions, we faced a problem with redundancy, as so much basic information had become relevant to clinical practice that the same information was being presented as many as three times: in the first section, in the molecular biology chapters, and then again in the chapters on clinical practice.
With the advent of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, there was even more reason why they needed to be together. The same trend was noted in other areas, such as cancer diagnostics, immunology and immunotherapy, and genetic counseling, to name a few. This, of course, is good news.
A (Lawrence): Responding to this trend, we moved all the relevant basic science into the major disease chapters. The text is still principles and practice of oncology, but both principles and practice are in each disease-oriented chapter. The elimination of redundancy has resulted in a smaller, single-volume text that emphasizes information the clinician needs at the point of care, with a reduction in the comprehensive historical backgrounds that were present in prior Editions.
A (Rosenberg): The second major change relates to the convenience of reading a text – in particular, reading a physical print copy of the book, which, believe it or not, there are still a substantial number of doctors who prefer to read the print version of the book!
While we have made the book smaller, it is still a big book. A comment we hear often is, “I love the book, but it is never where I am and it’s too heavy to carry.” So we thought we would try a publishing experiment and divide the book into a package of seven soft-cover volumes, each one easy to carry.
So for the first time, we are offering readers the option of purchasing a seven-volume paperback version of the book or the traditional single-volume hardcover version so readers have the option to choose the format that will best suit them.
A (Lawrence): And, of course, regardless of which print format you choose, the purchase of a print copy provides the reader with access to the VitalSource eBook, which is where you will find the quarterly updates.
Q3: Given the pace of changes in the field, what is the value of a textbook like Cancer: Principles & Practice of Oncology?
A (Lawrence): Despite the fact that the text is published on average every three and a half years, the field is changing at a dizzying pace and much valuable information appears between formal editions. Starting with the 9th Edition, to keep the text continuously fresh, we instituted quarterly electronic updates in the online version for all the disease chapters. These updates are inserted, in highlighted form, in the appropriate places in each chapter. The online version is available to all who purchase book, and PPO is the only cancer text that is continuously updated online.
A (DeVita): A point about the value of textbooks in general. To this day, textbooks remain unique in that unlike scientific papers, they present each new advance in the context of what has come before; they remain the ideal way for physicians to refresh their knowledge of the field and laboratory scientists to put their discoveries in proper perspective.
