Main description:

One in two of us will develop cancer at some point in our lives and yet many of us don't understand how cancers arise. How many different kinds of cancer are there? What treatments are available? What does the future hold in terms of developing new therapies? This book demystifies cancer by explaining the underlying cell and molecular biology in a clear and accessible style. It answers the questions commonly asked about cancer such as what causes cancer and how cancer develops. It explains how DNA makes proteins and how mutations can corrupt those proteins. It also gives an overview of current therapies and how treatments may advance over the next decades, as well as explaining what actions we can take to help prevent cancer developing. Understanding Cancer is an accessible and engaging introduction to cancer biology for any interested reader.

Contents:

1. Painting a clear picture; 2. Ancient history; 3. Counting cancer; 4. From DNA to protein; 5. What is a cell?; 6. Mutations; 7. Causes of cancer that can be controlled; 8. Causes of cancer that are difficult to control, accidents ... and other things; 9. Treating cancer by chemotherapy; 10. The road to utopia?