together with the oncologist. For man, the laser must be moved out of
the laboratory into the operating room. At present, its true position in
the cancer therapy program is not yet known. The greatest attention is
being directed to melanoma because of the tremendous energy adsorption
capabilities of this heavily pigmented tumor. The next area of interest
is in uncommon and com- mon tumors of blood vessels. Here, too, the
color factor influences to a signifi- cant degree the absorption of the
laser. Multiple accessible malignancies are treated also by the laser
chiefly to compare the effect here with other modalities of therapy.
Finally, as a type of therapy of desperation, lasers are used in the
treatment of metastatic lesions. This then, is the brief introduction to
the study of the current status of laser cancer research. Intense,
difficult and cooperative research of the next few years will determine
the role of the laser, an "optical knife", as an investi- gative or
therapeutic instrument. T able of Contents Chapter 1 Laser
Instrumentation 1 Chapter 2 Laser Protection . 8 Chapter 3 The Laser
Reaction in Tissue 13 Chapter 4 Color Qualities of Tissue in Relation to
Laser Radiation 16 Chapter 5 Laser Radiation of Tissue Cultures .