The European School of Oncology came into existence to respond to a need for information, education and training in the field of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. There are two main reasons }Vhy such an initiative was considered necessary. Firstly, the teaching of oncology requires a rigorously multidisciplinary approach which is difficult for the Universities to put into practice since their system is mainly disciplinary orientated. Secondly, the rate of technological development that impinges on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been so rapid that it is not an easy task for medical faculties to adapt their curricula flexibly. With its residential courses for organ pathologies and the seminars on new techniques (laser, monoclonal antibodies, imaging techniques etc.) or on the principal therapeutic controversies (conservative or mutilating surgery, primary or adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy alone or integrated), it is the ambition of the European School of Oncology to fill a cultural and scientific gap and, thereby, create a bridge between the University and Industry and between these two and daily medical practice. One of the more recent initiatives of ESO has been the institution of permanent study groups, also called task forces, where a limited number of leading experts are invited to meet once a year with the aim of defining the state of the art and possibly reaching a consensus on future developments in specific fields of oncology.

Klappentext

This book reviews the data which indicate that there are differences in the electrical potential of normal and malignant cells and that this difference is measurable - for certain tumours - over the skin. It reviews the scientific background of these observations and tells how these findings are now being put into clinical practice. Measurements of electropotentials over the breast appears to offer a new non-invasive technique for assessing breast lesions. The special feature of this book is that this is a new technique which represents the clinical exploitation of biologically recognised differences between normal and malignant tissues. This resume of all the available knowledge thus provides the only comprehensive collection of information on this technique.

Inhalt
Underlying Mechanisms Involved in Surface Electrical Potential Measurements for the Diagnosis of Breast Cancer: An Electrophysiological Approach to Cancer Diagnosis.- A History of Direct Current Measurement as it Relates to Tissue Proliferation.- Initial Preclinical Experiments with the Electropotential Differential Diagnosis of Mammary Cancer.- Dedicated Systems for Surface Electropotential Evaluation in the Detection and Diagnosis of Neoplasia.- Is There a Need for a New Detection Technique for Breast Cancer?.- Breast Biophysical Examination (BBE): Potential Applications in Clinical Practice.- Use of Non-Directed (Screening) Arrays in the Evaluation of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Breast Patients.- The Value of BBE in the Assessment of Breast Lesions.- Multicentre Clinical Trials Evaluating the Breast Biophysical Examination in the Assessment of Breast Disease.