Unraveling the Complexities of Metastasis

Although ninety percent of fatal cancer cases involve the spread of a primary tumor, the formation of metastases is still a poorly understood, complex process and a significant problem in the treatment of cancer patients. In Metastasis Research Protocols, leading international investigators describe the key methods needed to investigate why and how metastasis occurs. Volume I of this two-volume set, Analysis of Cells and Tissues, presents a comprehensive collection of established and leading-edge techniques for analyzing the expression of key molecules and for examining their production at the genetic level. The work focuses on the analysis and mapping of molecules produced by cells and tissues, and on the molecular biology underlying their expression. The traditional methods range from the histopathological and the immunocytochemical to SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, and enzyme zymography. Newer and more specialized techniques for analyzing the genetic aspects of metastasis include in situ hybridization to localize mRNAs, FISH, CGH, methylation analysis of CpG islands, RT-PCR, and differential display. The second volume of this set, Analysis of Cell Behavior In Vitro and In Vivo, moves to the level of living cells and tissues to present methodologies applicable to examining metastatic behavior in vitro and in the whole animal. Comprehensive and authoritative, the two volumes of Metastasis Research Protocols constitute a gold-standard collection of readily reproducible methods for understanding the metastatic cascade-first at the cellular and molecular levels, then at the level of the whole organism-responsible for the spread of cancer and for developing novel strategies to combat its spread.

This revised second edition is improved linguistically with multiple increases of the number of figures and the inclusion of several novel chapters such as actin filaments during matrix invasion, microtubuli during migration and matrix invasion, nuclear deformability during migration and matrix invasion, and the active role of the tumor stroma in regulating cell invasion.

The analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a real-time liquid biopsy approach can be used to obtain new insights into metastasis biology, and as companion diagnostics to improve the stratification of therapies and to obtain insights into the therapy-induced selection of cancer cells. In this book, we will cover all the different facets of CTCs to assemble a huge corpus of knowledge on cancer dissemination: technologies for their enrichment, detection, and characterization; their analysis at the single-cell level; their journey as CTC microemboli; their clinical relevance; their biology with the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT); their stem-cell properties; their potential to initiate metastasis at distant sites; their ex vivo expansion; and their escape from the immune system.

"This book, in both its direct and indirect inferences, points to the need for disease-specific neurocognitive methods in broadly occurring CNS and non-CNS cancers... All in all, this is a beautifully conceptualized book that should be on the bookshelves of many specialists who work in the very challenging field of Oncology."--Carol L. Armstrong, PhD, Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology Interest in the neurocognitive and sensory impairments resulting from many cancers and their interventions has grown considerably over the past decades as an important aspect of quality of life issues for cancer patients and survivors. The Neuropsychology of Cancer and Oncology features current findings on the neuropsychological effects of these cancers and their treatments along with the most promising neuropsychological and behavioral health interventions available to mitigate these deficits. This edited volume, part of the Contemporary Neuropsychology series, bridges the gap between the knowledge of neuropsychologists, who are grounded in the biological and physiological bases of cognition and behavior but not in pathology, and that of oncologists, who often lack expertise in the neuropsychological aspects of cancer. This text first addresses the biological components and medical care of these cancers, and issues relating to bioimaging. It then discusses the neurological impact of these cancers as they affect different functions, such as memory, learning, and sensory-motor ability, as well as discusses the effects of childhood cancers on neurological development. State-of-the-art neuropsychological and behavioral health interventions are considered, including neuropsychological/cognitive rehabilitation and habituation, pharmacological interventions, and collaborative medical practices. This text is a unique and timely resource for clinical neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, neurologists, oncologists, oncology nurses, and neurorehabilitation professionals. Key Features: Bridges the gap of knowledge between neuropsychologists and oncologists Explores the most current research on the neuropsychological effects of various cancers and their treatments Provides state-of-the-art information on promising neuropsychological and behavioralñhealth interventions for impairments created by cancers and their treatments Represents a collaboration between some of the foremost scholars and practitioners in neuropsychology and oncology

The Handbook of Glycomics provides the first comprehensive overview of the emerging field of glycomics, defined as the study of all complex carbohydrates in an organism or cell ("the glycome"). Beginning with analytic approaches and bioinformatics, this work provides a detailed discussion of relevant databases, data integration, and analysis. It then moves on to a discussion of specific model organism and pathogen glycomes followed by therapeutic approaches to human disorders of glycosylization. Structure and function of glycomes are included along with state-of-the-art technologies and systems approaches to the analysis of glycans. Synthesizes contributions from experts in biology, chemistry, bioinformatics, biotechnology, and medicine Highlights chapters devoted to chemical synthesis, cancer glycomics and immune cell glycomics Includes discussions of proteomics, mass spectrometry, NMR, array technology, and transcriptomics analytic approaches

Cellular Endocrinology in Health and Disease, Second Edition, describes the underlying basis of endocrine function, providing an important tool to understand the fundamentals of endocrine diseases. Delivering a comprehensive review of the basic science of endocrinology, from cell biology to human disease, this work explores and dissects the function of a number of cellular systems. The new edition provides an understanding of how endocrine glands function by integrating information resulting in biological effects on both local and systemic levels, also providing new information on the molecular physiopathogenesis of endocrine neoplasic cells. The new edition expands the most used chapters from the first edition and proposes a series of substitutions and additions to the table of contents. New chapters cover signaling, brown adipose tissue, hypothalamic cell models, cellular basis of insulin resistance, genetics and epigenetics of neuroendocrine tumors, and a series of chapters on endocrine-related cancer. Providing content that crosses disciplines, Cellular Endocrinology in Health and Disease, Second Edition, details how cellular endocrine function contributes to system physiology and mediates endocrine disorders. A methods section proves novel and useful approaches across research focus that will be attractive to medical students, residents, and specialists in the field of endocrinology, as well as to those interested in cellular regulation. Editors Alfredo Ulloa-Aguirre and Ya-Xiong Tao, experts in molecular and cellular aspects of endocrinology, deliver contributions carefully selected for relevance, impact, and clarity of expression from leading field experts Explores endocrine cells biology in normal and pathologic conditions Covers new aspects of endocrine cell function in distinct tissues Provides a view into the biological effect in local and systemic levels 15 new chapters covering the recent developments in the field

In spite of the development of various anticancer drugs, the therapy of cancer has remained challenging for decades. The current therapy of cancer is overwhelmed because of the inability to deliver therapeutics to all regions of a tumor in effective therapeutic concentrations, intrinsic or acquired resistance to the treatment with currently available agents via genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, and toxicity. As a result, cancer therapy using conventional therapeutics and different types of treatment regimens using this therapeutics has not led to a convincing survival benefit of the patients. In this context, Macromolecular therapeutics offer several advantages over conventional low molecular therapeutics by various ways such as, enable the use of larger doses of these agents by limiting the toxicity, by enhanced permeability and retention into tumors, by tumor targeting using tumor-specific antibodies, by specific inhibition of oncogenes using anticancer oligonucleotides etc. Cancer treatment using this macromolecular therapeutics has considerably improved the survival benefit for patients. As a result, various macromolecular therapeutics are already commercialized or are under clinical development. Although we are far from a real magic bullet today, looking at the pace of research and current success in this field of macromolecular therapeutics, it appears that we are approaching a magic bullet for the efficient treatment of cancer. Thus, we believe that the subject of this book is very timely, and that the book will fill an unmet need in the market. This book is unique and assembles various types and aspects of macromolecular anticancer therapeutics for cancer therapy in one shell and conveys the importance of this interdisciplinary field to the broad audience. Thus, in a nutshell, this book details the basics of cancer, and various therapeutic strategies such as those based on macromolecular therapeutics hence can become an important reference for practitioners, oncologists, medical pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, biomedical scientists, experimental pharmacologists, pharmaceutical technologists, and particularly it can essentially become a handbook of macromolecular therapeutics for cancer therapy for graduates, post-graduates and Ph.D. students in these fields.

Precision Medicine for Investigators, Practitioners and Providers addresses the needs of investigators by covering the topic as an umbrella concept, from new drug trials to wearable diagnostic devices, and from pediatrics to psychiatry in a manner that is up-to-date and authoritative. Sections include broad coverage of concerning disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences. Moreover, each chapter follows a structured blueprint, so that multiple, essential items are not overlooked. Instead of simply concentrating on a limited number of extensive and pedantic coverages, scholarly diagrams are also included. Provides a three-pronged approach to precision medicine that is focused on investigators, practitioners and healthcare providers Covers disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences Follows a structured blueprint, ensuring essential chapters items are not overlooked

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • As a young mother facing a terminal diagnosis, Julie Yip-Williams began to write her story, a story like no other. What began as the chronicle of an imminent and early death became something much more—a powerful exhortation to the living. “An exquisitely moving portrait of the daily stuff of life.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • Real Simple • Good Housekeeping That Julie Yip-Williams survived infancy was a miracle. Born blind in Vietnam, she narrowly escaped euthanasia at the hands of her grandmother, only to flee with her family the political upheaval of her country in the late 1970s. Loaded into a rickety boat with three hundred other refugees, Julie made it to Hong Kong and, ultimately, America, where a surgeon at UCLA gave her partial sight. She would go on to become a Harvard-educated lawyer, with a husband, a family, and a life she had once assumed would be impossible. Then, at age thirty-seven, with two little girls at home, Julie was diagnosed with terminal metastatic colon cancer, and a different journey began. The Unwinding of the Miracle is the story of a vigorous life refracted through the prism of imminent death. When she was first diagnosed, Julie Yip-Williams sought clarity and guidance through the experience and, finding none, began to write her way through it—a chronicle that grew beyond her imagining. Motherhood, marriage, the immigrant experience, ambition, love, wanderlust, tennis, fortune-tellers, grief, reincarnation, jealousy, comfort, pain, the marvel of the body in full rebellion—this book is as sprawling and majestic as the life it records. It is inspiring and instructive, delightful and shattering. It is a book of indelible moments, seared deep—an incomparable guide to living vividly by facing hard truths consciously. With humor, bracing honesty, and the cleansing power of well-deployed anger, Julie Yip-Williams set the stage for her lasting legacy and one final miracle: the story of her life. Praise for The Unwinding of the Miracle “Everything worth understanding and holding on to is in this book. . . . A miracle indeed.”—Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author “A beautifully written, moving, and compassionate chronicle that deserves to be read and absorbed widely.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies

Several new concepts are reviewed and discussed in this book and allude to the transport of drugs bound to red blood cells into the vascular blood-brain barrier and into cancer cells. Such a transport system is novel and of potential therapeutic potential. It is the goal of this book to provide information and data that will be useful for others to develop new approaches for the management of CNS malignancies.

Handbook of Cell Signaling, Three-Volume Set, 2e, is a comprehensive work covering all aspects of intracellular signal processing, including extra/intracellular membrane receptors, signal transduction, gene expression/translation, and cellular/organotypic signal responses. The second edition is an up-to-date, expanded reference with each section edited by a recognized expert in the field. Tabular and well illustrated, the Handbook will serve as an in-depth reference for this complex and evolving field. Handbook of Cell Signaling, 2/e will appeal to a broad, cross-disciplinary audience interested in the structure, biochemistry, molecular biology and pathology of cellular effectors. Contains over 350 chapters of comprehensive coverage on cell signaling Includes discussion on topics from ligand/receptor interactions to organ/organism responses Provides user-friendly, well-illustrated, reputable content by experts in the field

Improved understanding of the cellular and molecular makeup of tumors in the last 30 years has unraveled a previously unexpected level of heterogeneity among tumor cells as well as within the tumor microenvironment. The concept of tumor heterogeneity underlines the realization that different tumors can display significant differences in their genomic content as well as in their overall behavior. Our capacity to better understand the heterogeneous make up of tumors has very important consequences on our ability to design efficient therapeutic strategies to improve patient survival. This book highlights several aspects of tumor heterogeneity in the context of metastatic development and summarize some of the challenges posed by heterogeneity for tumor diagnostics and therapeutic management of tumors.