Molecular and Cell Biology of Cancer

This textbook takes you on a journey to the basic concepts of cancer biology. It combines developmental, evolutionary and cell biology perspectives, to then wrap-up with an integrated clinical approach.

The book starts with an introductory chapter, looking at cancer in a nut shell. The subsequent chapters are detailed and the idea of cancer as a mass of somatic cells undergoing a micro-evolutionary Darwinian process is explored. Further, the main Hanahan and Weinberg "Hallmarks of Cancer" are revisited. In most chapters, the fundamental experiments that led to key concepts, connecting basic biology and biomedicine are highlighted. In the book's closing section all of these concepts are integrated in clinical studies, where molecular diagnosis as well as the various classical and modern therapeutic strategies are addressed.

The book is written in an easy-to-read language, like a one-on-one conversation between the writer and the reader, without compromising the scientific accuracy. Therefore, this book is suited not only for advanced undergraduates and master students but also for patients or curious lay people looking for a further understanding of this shattering disease

Preface. - Molecular and Cell Biology of Cancer when cells break the rules and hijack their own planet. - Cancer as an Evolutionary Process. - Cell signaling in cancer. - The cell cycle, cytoskeleton and cancer. - Genomic Instability: DNA Repair and Cancer. - Cell metabolism in cancer an energetic switch. - Cancer immunoediting and hijacking of the immune system. - Angiogenesis - vessels recruitment by tumor cells. - Tumor niche disruption and metastasis: the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). - Case studies - Molecular Pathology perspective and impact on oncologic patients management. - Index.