Transforming Growth Factor Beta in Cancer Therapy, Volume I

Transforming Growth Factor-jl in Cancer Therapy, Volume I: Basicand Clinical Biology The present volume brings together a wealth of information that is fundamental to understanding the roleofTGF-~ in the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of cancer. Transforming Growth Factor-ß in Cancer Therapy, Volumes 1 and 2, provide a compendium of findings about the role of transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) in cancer treatment and therapy. The first volume, Basic and Clinical Biology, is divided into three parts. Part I presents basic concepts of transforming growth factor-ß signaling in normal physiology and cancer pathobiology. Part II investigates transforming growth factor-ß superfamily members in normal and tumor biology. Part III details transforming growth factor-ß in inflammation and fibrosis. This volume’s companion, Cancer Treatment and Therapy, examines transforming growth factor-ß in several developing and advanced cancers and discusses methods of treatment and therapy. Together, Transforming Growth Factor-ß in Cancer Therapy, Volumes 1 and 2, provide researchers and clinicians with a comprehensive and cutting-edge reference for the findings about the role of transforming growth factor-ß in biology and cancer treatment. Transforming Growth Factor-jl in Cancer Therapy, Volume I: Basicand Clinical Biology The present volume brings together a wealth of information that is fundamental to understanding the roleofTGF-~ in the pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of cancer. It is not even 25 years sinceTGF-~ was first isolated and characterized as a dimeric pep­ tide from both human and bovine sources (1-3), but the entire fieldofTGF-~ research has grown and expanded so that it is now a central theme in all of cell biology. There is almost no tissue or organ in the mammalian body in whichTGF-~ does not playa central role in embryonic differentiation or in adult function, and furthermore, malfunction of the normal physiologyofTGF-~can have disastrous consequences in almost all ofthese sites. Therefore, the present comprehensive review of so many aspects ofTGF-~ function is a most welcome attempt to bring together a huge body of experimental data that is of the utmost importance in the field of oncology.