The treatment of gastrointestinal cancer no longer involves only a gastroenterologist and a surgeon. As diagnostic imaging and treatment options have multiplied, the care of patients with cancer has evolved to include physicians and information from many disciplines: surgery, gastroenterology, oncology, pathology, and radiation therapy. Attempting to fill the void left by standard textbooks of gastroenterology, surgery, and oncology, Gastrointestinal Cancers successfully integrates information from these subspecialties to form a clear, concise view of current standards of therapy.

Rustgi and his colleagues have chosen a format that emphasizes the clinical aspects, biology, pathology, and treatment of the most common types of gastrointestinal cancer. Beginning with the embryology and molecular biology of the gut and concluding with the prospects for genetic therapy in the future, the clinical chapters are both the backbone and the strength of this book. The sections on esophageal and hepatocellular carcinoma are particularly valuable. The text is well written and easy to follow, and a multidisciplinary approach is outlined in each major section. The diagrams are clear; radiographs and photographs are well reproduced. References are up-to-date, and recent technological advances of clinical and academic interest are included. Multiauthorship is both a strength and a weakness, as it is for any textbook. Occasional lapses of style and occasional redundancies occur but do not detract from the book as a whole.

The cost seems appropriate for a textbook of 39 chapters with black-and-white photographs. Students, residents, and fellows, although they will find the book worthwhile, will probably still opt to use the department's or library's copy. Clinicians actively involved in diagnosing and treating gastrointestinal cancer will want their own copies for handy and frequent reference.