Human Radiation Injury (Hb 2011)

Human Radiation Injury, edited by Dennis C. Shrieve and Jay S. Loeffler, is a comprehensive textbook of relevant information by a collection of experts. The thoughtful forward written by Samuel Hellman sets the stage by providing a compelling argument for the timely need for this book on radiation injury. The body of the book is divided into four sections. The first section, which describes the basic principles of radiation injury to tissues, includes six chapters, outlining basic radiobiological principles and models, as well as biologics, chemicals, and genetics impacting radiation response. The last chapter, on comorbidities impacting radiosensitivity, is notable for its practicality, although a section describing the optimal timing between radiation and surgery would have been an added benefit. The second section addresses whole-body effects of radiation and provides detailed information covering toxicities due to systemic and total body irradiation, A-bomb survivors' health issues, oncogenesis, response to radiologic and nuclear terrorism, space irradiation, nuclear power plant exposure, and effects on the embryo and fetus. The chapter describing the optimization of radiotherapy delivery to minimize radiation injury is particularly timely. The third section provides a wide-ranging look at the pathology and dynamics of the effects of radiation on specific organs. The fourth section describes the treatment of late radiation injury and could have been integrated further with the information specific to the mitigation of each organ that was presented in the previous section. The content of the individual chapters is outstanding. The references are pertinent and largely comprehensive...for the reader motivated to browse the text on a computer screen, the electronic version of the book is a magnificent addition that reduces the need for crossreferencing because a reader interested in a particular topic can find all occurrences throughout the text and figures. The electronic format is also a particularly useful tool to aid teaching. Indeed, the figures are usually superb, providing insight beyond that available in the text. Almost every chapter represents an extremely valuable resource describing in detail critical information regarding the consequences of the interaction of radiation with normal tissue. As a textbook, increased integration and cross-referencing would have been helpful, although the electronic version more than compensates for this issue. Overall, Human Radiation Injury is an excellent resource and a ``must have'' for all practicing radiation oncologists and radiation biologists. Stephen L. Brown, Ph.D. Benjamin Movsas, M.D. Department of Radiation Oncology Henry Ford Hospital and Wayne State University Detroit, MI -- Stephen L. Brown, Ph.D., Benjamin Movsas, M.D. * Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys., Vol. 80, No. 5, p. 1602 * "The content of the individual chapters is outstanding." "The references are pertinent and largely comprehensive." "...the electronic version of the book is a magnificent addition that reduces the need for cross-referencing because a reader interested in a particular topic can find all occurrences throughout the text and figures. The electronic format is also a particularly useful tool to aid teaching. Indeed, the figures are usually superb, providing insight beyond that available in the text." "Overall, Human Radiation Injury is an excellent resource and a 'must have' for all practicing radiation oncologists and radiation biologists." Stephen L. Brown, Ph.D. Benjamin Movsas, M.D. Department of Radiation Oncology Henry Ford Hospital and Wayne State University Detroit, MI