The authors have designed this text as a “comprehensive handbook for the treatments of pre-invasive and invasive cervical pathology”. They have succeeded in creating a good basic introduction to cervical neoplasia and cancer incorporating current treatment recommendations.
The book is compact in size. It contains six chapters which are brief and the information is presented in bulleted format. The chapters flow in a logical sequence, beginning with epidemiology, risk factors and co-factors, cervical anatomy, histology and histopathology, through to diagnosis and staging, treatment of pre-invasive lesions and invasive cervical cancer and prevention and screening. The authors include statistical information, unfortunately the majority of which is from the American perspective. However, they do include a brief overview of worldwide demographics and the bulk of the text matches treatment recommendations in Australia.
Each chapter is well referenced, which is useful for the reader if they wish to undertake further investigation of the topic. They have utilised simple tables throughout the text covering topics such as Human Papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes, common coloposcopic findings, the natural history of cervical intraepithelial lesions, types and complications of hysterectomies, radiation, prognostic factors and comparison of HPV vaccines. There is also a summary of numerous randomised trials comparing concurrent chemo-radiation versus radiation therapy alone in cervical cancer.
The information on cytology is categorised under the Bethesda System, the terminology of which has minor differences to the modified Bethesda system that has been used in Australia since 2004, but the categorisations are virtually the same. They have also included the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics staging, plus a description of Tumour, Nodal and Distant Metastasis staging for cervical carcinoma.
While this text would not be viewed as a comprehensive manual, I found it to be a good introductory text and it would certainly be a helpful beginning guide and source of reference to those seeking information on the diagnosis and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions and cervical cancer.
Karen Campbell, Department of Gynaecological Oncology, Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania.