Synopsis
"As Frank observes, 'Cancer is the failure of controls over cellular birth and death.' Although a vast amount of work has gone into describing the molecular and cellular processes involved, an understanding of the overall dynamics of these processes is less advanced. This book combines empirical information with insights into the nonlinear dynamics of multistage progression, in ways that both illuminate and have practical implications. Anyone with serious interests in cancer research should read it."—Robert M. May, University of Oxford
"This is an excellent book on a very difficult but important subject. It does a superb job of introducing the various models for observed cancer frequencies and explaining their assumptions, conclusions, and weaknesses."—Darryl Shibata, University of Southern California
"This is a book of relentless scholarship, precise organization, and fundamental, interdisciplinary insights into the biology of cancer. It provides the first truly comprehensive theory for the epidemiological/genetic incidence curves that characterize cancer, the first solid integration of evolutionary genetics with cancer biology, and a rigorous, well-reasoned approach to progress in understanding the genetic and environmental bases of cancer."—Bernard Crespi, Simon Fraser University
David C. Krakauer - Science
Frank's forte in the book is his search for the simplicity that is often masked by the complexities of cancer. With his mathematical models in hand, he turns to the details of cancer genetics, carcinogens, and aging and provides novel integrative insights...Dynamics of Cancer emphasizes both the multiscale dynamics of the disease and an approach that synthesizes empirical knowledge with parsimonious, mathematical theory. Frank moves the field forward, narrowing the gap between a tragic disease of everyday life and the Darwinian world of the genome.