The title of this book had the promise to lead us to a clear understanding of the common complications associated with surgical and nonsurgical interventions for oral cancers; and, of course, tell us about the evidence based management of its unpleasant side effects.
This book enjoyed the overwhelming contribution of 50 authors, who have, over the stretch of 304 pages, constituting the 30 chapters, meticulously described various aspects of complications that may be associated with different anticancer therapies. The introduction (Chapter 1) by the two lead authors, with four tables, one box and one figure, quite adequately delineates the complications associated with different treatment modalities and novel biological treatments. There is a whole chapter, written by two authors, dedicated to basic anatomy of the oral cavity with line drawings to make one familiar with the structures. It looked a bit out of place; as one would expect doctors dealing with these types of patients to know the oral cavity well.
The book has a generous proportion of colour slides which clinicians will certainly find very useful. All the chapters are adequately referenced; with one chapter having a dazzling 135 references!
I was not sure what readership profile the publisher had in mind. This book would be a good reference for doctors specialising in head and neck cancer. It is certainly very informative but I am not sure if it has quite delivered the relevant information with sufficient simplicity and clarity. The book is a very good price for the huge effort that the authors have put into it.
