Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Brief history of cancer -- Part 1: Selfish Cell: -- Circle of life -- Immortal cell -- Surviving and spreading -- Part 2: Enemy Forces: -- Mutation, mutation, mutation -- Chemical carcinogens -- Radiation -- Catching cancer -- Part 3: Who Gets Cancer?: -- We are all different -- Inheriting cancer -- It shouldn't happen to children -- Part 4: Winning The War: -- Attacking cancer -- Prevention and cure: future prospects -- Appendices: -- Appendix 1: Cell cycle -- Appendix 2: How DNA is repaired -- Appendix 3: How infectious agents cause cancer -- Appendix 4: Inherited predispositions to cancer -- Glossary -- Additional reading -- Index.

Cancer is the second biggest killer in the world, but few of us understand how it works or how it is treated. In this illuminating introduction, Paul Scotting explains the science behind the disease and explores why some of us are more likely to develop it than others. Arguing that we’re in a new age of understanding that will revolutionize the fight againtst cancer, Scotting maps out the promising future strategies for its prevention, treatment, and cure.