Biomed. & FY~ar~~xco?l~er., 43 ( 1989) 53’7.538 Q Elsevier. Paris

537

Directory of on-going resesrch in cancer epidemiology 19gg. IARC Scientific Publications No. 93. M.P. Cole. man, J. Wahrendorf. IARC, Lyon, 1988.

The Directory of On-Going Research in Cancer Epide- miology is a compilation of information on current research projects in the field of cancer epidemiology. The 1988 edition, which is the 13th in the series, contains abstracts of about 1240 projects being carried out in more than 80 countries. The USA and UK are still the largest contributors and account for about 40 o/u of the projects. The contributions from Italy, Japan and the People’s Republic of China have more than qua- drupled since the first Directory and those from e.g. France and Scandinavia have also increased.

There is still great interest in the relationship between cancer and factors such as diet, alcohol and smoking, as well as in occupational exposures. An increasing interest has been noted in passive smoking, intervention, screening and the role of viruses in the etiology of cancer.

Several indexes facilitate access to the information in the Directory : cancer site, general terms, investiga- tor, type of study, chemical exposure, occupation and country. With the 1988 issue a systematic review of the indexing policy has begun, which will improve the indexes and make searching the Directory for studies which Iit a particular description more efficient.

The publication contains a list of banks of biological materials and a list of population-based cancer regis- tries.

Inclusion of the full address of the principal investi- gator together with telephone and telex numbers when available is a helpful feature and facilitates contacts between research workers.

Cancer incidence in five continents, Volume V. IARC Scientific Publications No. 88. C. Muir, J. Waterhouse, T. Mack, J. Powell, S. Whelan. IARC, Lyon, 1988.

This series, of which the first two volumes were published by UICC in 1966 and 1970, has since been published by the Agency, in collaboration with the International Association of Cancer Registries. It provides compilations of cancer morbidity data provid- ed, in Volume V, by 105 registries covering 137 popu- lations in 36 countries.

Registries contributing data for the first time include Costa Rica, Martinique, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre in Brazil, Tianjin (China), Bangalore, Madras and Nagpur (India), Hiroshima (Japan), Kuwait, Rizal (Philip. pines), Calvados and Isere in France, Southern Ireland,

the provinces of Pat-ma and Regusa in Italy, Eindhoven (‘The Netherlands), Tarragona in Spain, Base1 and Zurich in Switzerland, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

As well as the age-specific incidence rates, age- standardized, truncated and cumulative incidence rates are given for each ~pnlation by site and by sex. Rates are also given by subsite for most cancers. Incidence in the urban and rural areas of nine registries is compared.

The problems of the comparability of incidence data from different parts of the world are discussed in depth in the commentary, and data on indices of reliability are presented for each registry by sex. site and broad age-group. The book provides no interp~tation of the data : it is left to the reader to draw conclusions and construct hypotheses on the basis of this unique collection of info~ation.

~ntern~tion~i incidence of c~ild~o~ czmcer. IARC Scien- tific Publications No. 87. DM. Parkin, C.A. Stilier, C.A. Bieber, G.J. Draper, B. Terracini, J.L. Young. IARC, Lyon, 1988.

The Inte~atio~al Agency for Research on Cancer has a long experience in the compilation and analysis of data on the incidence of cancer in different parts of the world. This activity has been extended by the publi- cation of this volume, which brings together informa- tion on the incidence of cancer of childhood in over SO countries, and so represents the most extensive collection of such data that has ever been published. The data are presented in a readily accessible format for making appropriate comparisons, which is also aided by the use of a special classification system, based upon the cellular origin of the tumours. This is more relevant that the traditional classification by anatomical site, since it is generally acknowledged that genetic susceptibility of particular cell types plays a more important role in the etiology of cancers of childhood than in adults. The geographic and ethnic variations in the risk of different cancers are an invalu- able source of information for workers interested in formulating and confirming hyponbeses of childhood cancer etiology.

Mormons prow& factors and o~eoge~es. E. Pimentel. CRC Press, Londl;i?. 1987.

This comprehensive text examines the hormones and peptide growth factors involved in the regulation of