Esophageal cancer is a subject most appropriate for a multiauthored, international monograph. The international experience of the three editors guarantees a sophisticated evaluation of the differences with this tumor in various parts of the world.
The 456 pages contain chapters written by 104 authors from six continents. It is interesting that only half the articles are from countries where English is the lingua franca of medicine.
As is well known, the Japanese and Chinese experience with management of early lesions stands in stark contrast with the usually dismal results of treatment in most Western countries. The chapters describing the techniques for early detection of esophageal cancer in high-risk populations are particularly well done.
The large number of articles, some of which are only one to three pages long, makes for uneven reading. Some of the shorter chapters might have been omitted. The editors have seen to it that each contribution,