Carcinoma of the prostate increasingly dominates the attention of urologists for both scientific and clinical reasons. The search for an explanation and the prediction of the variable behaviour of the malignant prostatic cell continues unabated. The search for more precise tumour staging and more effective treatment is equally vigorous. Editors Andrew Bruce and John Trachtenberg have assembled acknowledged leaders in prostate cancer to present those areas of direct interest to the clinician. There are a number of other topics that might have been considered but most of these, such as experimental tumour models or biochemical factors affecting cell growth, still lack immediate application for the clinician. Carcinoma of the prostate continues to have its highest incidence in the western world, and the difference in comparison with the incidence in the Far East appears to be real and not masked by diagnostic or other factors. A number of other epidemiological aspects need careful analysis: Is the incidence increasing? Is the survival improving? Is the prognosis worse in the younger patient? Epidemiological data are easily misused and misinterpreted so that a precise analysis of the known facts makes an important opening chapter to this book.

1 Epidemiology.- 2 Grading of Prostatic Carcinomas-Current Status.- 3 Tumor Markers in Prostatic Disease.- 4 Hormone Receptors in Prostatic Cancer.- 5 Imaging Techniques in the Diagnosis and Pelvic Staging of Prostatic Cancer.- 6 Update in Staging Systems.- 7 Pelvic Lymph Nodes: Diagnosis and Significance.- 8 Management of Localized Adenocarcinoma of the Prostate.- 9 Interstitial Radiotherapy.- 10 The Case for External Beam Radiotherapy of Certain Adenocarcinomas of the Prostate.- 11 Hormonal Therapy in Metastatic Prostatic Cancer.- 12 Chemotherapy of Prostatic Cancer.- 13 Clinical Trials in Prostatic Cancer: Methodology and Controversies.