To tackle a subject as broad as "chemotherapy" in this era of mushrooming therapeutics is an ambitious enterprise. Yet this slender volume achieves this goal with scientific facility and sure-footed syntax. All but three of the 11 chapters were written by Busch and Lane, and the same chord of lucidity and orderliness of presentation reverberates throughout the text.
Most fascinating was chapter 8 ("Mechanism of Action of Antibiotics and Analog Inhibitors"), an indepth discussion of mechanism of action of chemotherapeutic agents "upon enzymes, upon other macromolecules which function as templates, e.g., deoxribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA), or upon transport systems." Details are provided for the action of antibiotics, antimetabolites, alkylating agents, and mitotic inhibitors.
Each section offers comprehensive information on chemistry, antimicrobial activity, mechanism of action, resistance, disposition, therapeutic applications, and adverse effects. The chapter on cancer themotherapy is succinct. I felt the discussion of combination therapy (of