720 . Book Reviews

tumor, the two central chapters are concerned with "intraductallesions" and "lobular lesions". The- chapter on "intraductallesions" unfortunately lacks figures of benign forms of theseintraductal lesions, which often present diagnostic problems.There are, however, many illustrations of the various forms ofmalignant intraductal tumor groWth, and the question of mic­roinvasion with its special prognostic significance is extensivelydiscussed. As far as the lobular lesions are concerned, the transi­tIOn from normal lobule to lobular hyperplasia with and withoutatypias up to the lobular carcinoma in situ is well described. Thesubdivision of carcinoma types into "low-grade" and "high­grade invasive carcinomas" seems to be too rough. This becomesobvious in the case of medullary carcinomas which are lumpedwith the "low-grade" type. The inflammatory, reactive changesof breast epithelium have been neglected and "cystic disease" isonly. referre~ to in on~ t~ble. without any exact differential diag­nostic cntena for a dlstmctlOn from carcinoma. But this short­coming is outweighed by a valuable table depicting the wholespectrum of epithelial lesions of the breast under the aspect oftheir clinical implications. With this table and with its excellentoverview of the different risk factors, the book offers more than amere "Interpretation of Biopsies". The chapter on "Multicentric­ity of Breast Cancer" is of general significance. As in other vol­umes of the series, only a limited space is devoted to needlebiopsy. The short hint that receptor determination is a domain ofthe "chemical assays" can be explained by the fact that the bookwas published in 1984. Today, the immunohistologic detectionof estrogen receptors is a routine method in histological breastdiagnosis. Notwithstanding these restrictions, however, the bookhas its value as a "Guide for Breast Biopsy Diagnosis".

E. Grundmann, Munster

McGovern, V. J. Melanoma. Histological Diagnosis and Prog­nosis. (Biopsy Interpretation Series.) VIII, 197 pages, illustrated.Raven Press Ltd., 1983. Hard cover US $ 70.50.

As the title indicates, this book is different from other volumesin the series. This impression is confirmed by a close reading andby a look at the figures (some of them in color),which present notonly histological but also macroscopic features. In the prefacethe author justly points out that many of the lesions which toda;are known as "benign melanotic lesions of the skin", some thirtyyears ago would have been interpreted as malignant ones. Anexample in point are the "spindle cell melanotic lesions", which,espeCially in the amelanotic variety, according to the experienceof the reviewer are often diagnosed and treated as malignantmelanomas. The criteria for diagnosis are not only described butalso illustrated by excellent figures. The same applies to the bluenevi including the local metastasis form of the benign cellularblue nevus, a rare disease that often involves diagnostic andtherapeutic problems. Of equal importance is the chapter on the"Spontaneous Regression of Malignant Melanoma", to whichthe author has devoted some 10 pages. The chapter on "ThePrognostic Significance of Histological Features" includes thecross-sectional profile as well as the depth of invasion and thehistogenetic pattern of sickness. It is stressed that the prognosticsignificance of lymphocytic infiltration is limited and dependanton the depth of invasion, but not on the infiltrate itself. From apractical point of view, the sentence "the significance of the infil­trate remains unclear" is correct. More recent immunohis­tochemical analyses of the infiltrate, however, have not been con­~ide.red. Chapters on "Clinical Features and Prognosis", and

Pnmary Treatment of Malignant Melanoma" round off thisvolume to an outstanding presentation of practically relevantaspects of the topic.

Although the book was published in 1983, it can still be recom­mended without any restrictions to pathologists, especially der­matophologists, and dermatologist. Considering the excellentmake-up the price is fully justified.

E. Grundmann, Munster

Hagenbeek, A., Lowenberg, B. (Eds.): Minimal Residual Diseasein Acute Leukemia 1986. (Developments in Oncology). XIV, 393pages. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht-Boston-Lancas­ter, 1986. Hard cover Dfl. 175,-/$ 76.50/£ 48.50

Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Leukemia 1986 is the sec­ond publication on this subject in the series "Developments inOncology". This publication represents a collection of the mainpapers which were presented at a congress organized by theeditors H. Hagenbeek and B. Lowenberg in Rotterdam inNovember 1985. The poster presentations are not included inthis book. Various aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of mini­mal residual disease in acute leukemia are discussed in 35 con­tributions, divided into four sections.. Section I consists of 15 papers on the application of cytogene­

tiC, molecular genetic and immunological approaches in thedetection of minimal residual disease in leukemia. Section II con­tains 6 papers reporting on clinical trials carried out by Ameri­can, French, British, and German clinicians in the treatment ofacute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myelogenous leukemia.The 15 contributions in sections III and IV provide a detailedreview of the state of the art in autologous and allogeneic bonemarrow transplantation in acute leukemia. Due to the short inter­val between the presentation of these papers and their publicationall contributions represent the latest developments in the area.

The book is of special interest for cell biologists and cliniciansworking in leukemia research and therapy, although its priceseems somewhat high.

J. Ritter, Munster

Holzner, J. H. (Hrsg.): Arbeitsbuch Pathologie. Band 2. SpeziellePathologie I. 4. neubearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. XVII,360 S. Urban und Schwarzenberg, Miinchen-Wien-Baltimore1985. Kt. DM 36,-.

In this fourth edition of the "Spezielle Pathologie" (in Ger­man), the text has been revised and in some parts enlarged, andthe number of line drawings has increased. The structural frameof the previous editions has been retained: for every disease orsyndrome, short synthetic definitions are presented, referencelists being restricted to the most important and modern papers orbooks.

As most of the current German textbooks of pathology this"Spezielle Pathologie" is in accordance with the "learning c;talo­gues" for medical students, aiming primarily at this readership. Inmy.opinion, however, this book is more appropriate for youngchlllcians or pathologists, i.e. to people with a general basicknowledge of medicine and pathology. The text is in fact tooshort and not adequately illustrated; for students this might pre­sent considerable difficulties, whereas every young medical resi­dent will find in this book a very useful guide, because it offersrea~ly availabl~, exact informations about morphology andaetlOpathogenesls of almost every kind of disease.

Layout and printing are very good, the price is low.

F. Gullotta, Munster