Cancer Informatics - Essential Technologies for Clinical Trials

Book Review Cancer Informatics: Essential Technologies for Clinical Trials, edited by John S. Silva, Marion J. Ball, Christopher G. Chute, Judith V. Douglas, Curtis P. Langlotz, Joyce C. Niland, and William L. Sherlis, 377 pp, with illus, $79.95, New York, NY, Springer-Verlag (telephone: 800-777-4643), 2002, ISBN 0-38795328-0 Type and Scope of Book: This multiauthored text covers many aspects of medical informatics, with emphasis on cancer clinical trials. Contents: The 26 chapters in the book touch on every aspect of the infrastructure of US cancer informatics. Most chapters are written in a readable nontechnical style, with minimal provision of statistics, source codes, or mathematical notations. The chapters range from committee reports to single-authored authoritative reviews. Much of the text relates to standards, and the editors recruited many of the most active participants in the standards field. This is definitely an “insiders’ ” book, with many of the chapters delving into the inner workings of committees and US federal departments. Strengths: The list of contributors is a virtual Who’s Who for the field of medical informatics and cancer trials. The editors drew from a wide pool of talent (including government, business, universities, and clinical practice) to cover the important issues relating to the informatics infrastructure of cancer trials. Deficiencies: Each chapter includes the authors’ names but not their affiliations, which were listed only in the contributors list in the front of the book. This omission makes it hard to determine the ties linking authors to subject matter. Quite a few of the authors are affiliated with companies or organizations whose products are described in their chapters. I found only a single chapter with a financial disclosure, which should have been included in all such chapters. Recommended Readership: I highly recommend this book for anyone involved in the administration of cancer clinical trials. Overall Grading: ### Jules J. Berman, PhD, MD, Program Director for Pathology Informatics, Cancer Diagnosis Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

Grading Key ★★★★★ = outstanding; ★★★★ = excellent; ★★★ = good; ★★ = fair; ★ = poor.

© 2002 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

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