Site-Specific Cancer Series: Skin Cancer

TON - August 2010, Vol 3, No 5 — September 14, 2010

Paula Muehlbauer and Christine McGowan, eds.

Pittsburgh, PA: Oncology Nursing Society; 2009

120 pages. Softcover. $35.00 (ONS members); $49.00 (ONS nonmembers)


 

Skin Cancer, edited by Paula Muehlbauer and Christine McGowan, is the first publication in the Oncology Nursing Society’s Site-Specific Cancer Series. This book is a good primary resource for basic information on skin cancers. Skin Cancer is not a comprehensive textbook on skin cancer, but rather, is a compendium of information on common and less common types of skin cancer that may be encountered in the clinical setting. The 14 contributing authors, who include oncology and dermatology nurse practitioners, research nurses, and educators, provide a strong clinical focus for the content. In that regard, the book is a valuable resource for advanced practice nurses, nurse practitioners, and other clinicians who may not routinely work with patients with skin cancer.

The preface lays a foundation for the seriousness of skin cancer in the United States, the book itself, and the role of the nurse in regard to skin cancer. The four chapters cover anatomy and physiology of the skin, nonmelanoma skin cancer (basal, squamous, and Merkel cell cancers; Kaposi’s sarcoma), melanoma, and T-cell lymphoma. A strength of this book is its conciseness of information; however, some important content is deficient or missing. For example, the chapter on anatomy and physiology primarily describes skin structure, rather than physiology, but sufficiently lays the groundwork for discussion of skin cancers. The chapter on nonmelanoma skin cancer could be strengthened by including a schema and short discussion of ultraviolet radiation carcinogenesis pathways. The chapter on melanoma underdiscusses the role of genetics (eg, the BRAF gene) in melanoma etiology and does not address the controversy regarding ultraviolet radiation as a potential cause. All chapters could have included relative risk ranges associated with each risk factor to add to the clinical utility of this information.

The disease-focused chapters define the cancer and contain information on etiology, epidemiology, risk factors, types and subtypes, staging, treatment, a summary, and references. However, chapter formats lack parallel consistency, meaning that certain topics such as prevention, patient management and evaluation, patient education, psychosocial issues, and survivor issues are covered in some chapters but not in others. This inconsistency makes it more difficult to quickly access specific information, even when viewing the table of contents. Also of concern is that many of the references in all chapters are outdated and are secondary, rather than primary, references.

Skin Cancer contains 68 images of the skin and skin cancers. For the most part, these images enhance and complement the text. The color of many of the images is not “true,” which is problematic when color is a hallmark feature of every type of skin cancer. This is a book that should have an accompanying CD-ROM to allow easier access to clearer images (and content) in the clinical setting. Despite some shortcomings, Skin Cancer is a welcome addition to the existing and often pricey texts on this topic. 

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