Gandhi R, Ganguli S, eds. Interventional Oncology. Thieme; 2015; 227 pp; 142 ill; $89.99
Interventional oncology (IO) is a fast-growing field that is leading to significant and exciting advances in care of cancer patients. To practice IO, one must have a good fund of knowledge, including knowledge of medical oncology and cancer imaging. Additionally, specific procedural skills and experience must be learned and acquired. Finally, one must relish clinical care and follow-up for these complex patients. The book Interventional Oncology, edited by Ripal Gandhi and Suvranu Ganguli, gives a good introduction to IO and covers these aspects in a concise and well-organized manner.
The book is organized into 13 chapters, which first cover percutaneous ablative procedures, including individual chapters on RCC, adrenal, thoracic, bone tumor, HCC, and metastatic liver ablation. Intra-arterial therapies are then discussed, with individual chapters on HCC chemo-embolization and HCC radioembolization. Additional chapters on intra-arterial treatment of colorectal hepatic metastases, cholangiocarcinoma, and neuroendocrine tumors follow. A chapter devoted to portal vein embolization is the penultimate chapter, followed by a chapter reviewing cutting edge and emerging therapies in this burgeoning field, including immunoebolization, chemosaturation, and irreversible electroporation. All of these chapters are intentionally concise, and given the precise topics for each chapter, a practicing interventional radiologist or trainee would easily be able to reference this book and read about key background points, indications, technical considerations, expected outcomes, and complications, immediately prior to seeing a cancer patient in-clinic or performing an IO procedure. Conspicuously missing from this book, in this reviewer’s opinion, is a chapter on percutaneous biopsy. Without skills and knowledge to perform high-quality, low-risk biopsies, and without knowing the emerging oncologic indications for biopsy, an interventional radiologist is unlikely to be able to participate meaningfully in the care of cancer patients.
Compared to current interventional radiology (IR) texts, this book is concise, with a narrow focus. The current gold standard text, Image Guided Interventions, is 1258 pages. While it contains 12 chapters dedicated to the practice of IO, these are spread out throughout the book.
The ideal target audience for this book is the radiology trainee (Resident or Fellow) who is interested in learning about IO. Additionally, a practicing general interventional radiologist would also find this book useful. The extended audience for this book would include a body radiologist who wants to learn more about the field of IO if they are attending interdisciplinary tumor boards. This book would not be recommended for neuroradiology trainees or practicing neuroradiolgists, as only one chapter would be of even oblique interest: percutaneous bone ablation.
