Abstract
This textbook is the third edition of what has become the toxicologic pathologist’s bible and a “must-have” for the pathologist practicing in the areas of pharmaceutical, agrochemical, environmental, and industrial chemical hazard assessment. It continues to break new ground in the area, and this edition has significantly added to the topics covered in the previous two editions. While the series has captured the market in terms of pathology, it has also significantly competed with the more established, almost classical, toxicological texts such as that of Wallace Hayes and Kurt Klaassen’s “Cassarette and Doull” and this will, as in the case of the previous editions, be attractive to toxicology, and its practitioners, in general. This edition has undergone a significant transformation over the previous two editions with new arrangements and topics while avoiding the trap that other classical texts have fallen into of decreasing the text size to avoid making the books too large. Unlike other series where the subsequent edition is an expanded version of the previous, it is difficult to recognize much of the previous editions in this current version, so much has actually changed, and this is a real bonus for the reader and purchaser, and should hopefully encourage a whole new generation of buyers and readers, in addition to those who already possess the previous editions.
The authors’ preface outlines a number of very ambitious aims for the text. The scope of this book is deliberately very broad, and it effectively covers nearly every subdiscipline of toxicology imaginable, and I can honestly say that the book achieves on every ambition.
The edition is in the form of three separate volumes, and while this may not be ideal for many, the comprehensive coverage makes this an absolute necessity. The first chapter of volume I is by the three editors and is a general “Introduction to Toxicologic Pathology” which nicely sets the scene for what is to come, but the initial chapter in volume I reflects a growing realization of the increasing importance of the book for toxicologists and biomedical scientists in general. While the two previous editions were undoubtedly targeted primarily toward the pathologist, the rearranged topic order, with the opening and newly commissioned chapter on “Biochemical and Molecular Basis of Toxicity” by Lois Lehman-McKeeman, will make this edition immediately of more general appeal. As with the previous edition, volume III of this edition is concerned with the pathology of organ systems, and while this might seem to the layman to be an obvious requirement of the practicing pathologist, it is remarkable how these will probably be the most read parts of the edition when problems appear in less familiar organs.
The edition has contributions from a plethora of the best known contemporary toxicological pathologists and as such will have the weight of current thinking on issues such as “Biomarkers,” “Peer Review and Pathology Working Groups,” “Alternative Animal Models,” and “Carcinogenicity Assessment.” There are also really useful contributions on the “Preparation of the Pathology Report for a Toxicology Study” by Hugh Black et al., on “Risk Communication for Toxicologic Pathologists” by John Vahle, and on “Discovery Toxicology and Pathology” by Glenn Cantor and Evan Janovitz. The chapters are, with few exceptions, extremely readable, well illustrated in color, and set out in a pleasing manner that makes the reader want to find out more. The chapters are set out to reflect the changing face of toxicologic pathology in the 21st century, and they cover topics that would not automatically be included in what a pathologist might be expected to include in his or her baileywick. Nevertheless, the edition is all the stronger for setting out its stall in this manner and showing how the pathologist has the key role to play in pulling together the sometimes disparate disciplines that make up the field of toxicology.
The contributors’ list reads like a Who’s Who from contemporary toxicologic pathology with the authors being acknowledged authorities in their respective fields. The layout is of such a user-friendly format that professionals, and those engaged in the teaching and receiving of education on the topic of toxicology, will find this equally useful, if not indispensable to their day-to-day practice. This is definitely not a book for the armchair toxicologist/pathologist but is targeted to the hands-on, practicing toxicologist/pathologist, and as a reviewer I found the book a delight to read, and both authors and publisher should be justly proud of the final product.
Make no mistake about it, this edition is a tome and anyone purchasing this will either need a trolley to ferry it around or will have to enroll in the nearest gym. At almost 3,000 pages in length, this is no lightweight read, but that in no way detracts from its value. It will be an essential reference text for toxicologists and toxicologic pathologists working in industrial and academic institutes for many years to come and should be core to any teaching course in the subject of toxicology.
In summary, this is the most comprehensive textbook yet published covering the various aspects of toxicological pathology in general, and it does a fair job in covering toxicology topics as well. Its scope and breadth of coverage will find it well placed within any toxicology laboratory and I cannot recommend it more highly. It should take pride of place in the library of any toxicology laboratory and should be an indispensable text for pathologists and toxicologists both currently in practice and those preparing for their respective examinations.