The onset of cancer presents one of the most fundamental problems in
modern biology. In Dynamics of Cancer, Steven Frank produces the first
comprehensive analysis of how particular genetic and environmental
causes influence the age of onset.
The book provides a unique conceptual and historical framework for
understanding the causes of cancer and other diseases that increase with
age. Using a novel quantitative framework of reliability and multistage
breakdown, Frank unifies molecular, demographic, and evolutionary levels
of analysis. He interprets a wide variety of observations on the age of
cancer onset, the genetic and environmental causes of disease, and the
organization of tissues with regard to stem cell biology and somatic
mutation. Frank uses new quantitative methods to tackle some of the
classic problems in cancer biology and aging: how the rate of increase
in the incidence of lung cancer declines after individuals quit smoking,
the distinction between the dosage of a chemical carcinogen and the time
of exposure, and the role of inherited genetic variation in familial
patterns of cancer.
This is the only book that presents a full analysis of the age of cancer
onset. It is a superb teaching tool and a rich source of ideas for new
and experienced researchers. For cancer biologists, population
geneticists, evolutionary biologists, and demographers interested in
aging, this book provides new insight into disease progression, the
inheritance of predisposition to disease, and the evolutionary processes
that have shaped organismal design.
