It is a very special honour for me to be able to present this handbook of medical oncology, which under diverse headings and origins covers such a vast spectrum of experience. I be­ lieve the reader will be struck in particular by the impressive volume of information available, especially with regard to childhood tumours, which represent, today, an immense "lab­ oratory of hope". It is in this very field that we oncologists have been able to obtain the most consoling results in recent years. I feel sure that all those who read these chapters will find that their oncological competence is enriched and also in a certain sense that their wish to contribute to progress in can­ cer research and treatment has been renewed. In conclusion, my most heartfelt congratulations go to the authors for the excellent job they have done, as well as my ad­ miration for having been able to concentrate so much pre­ cious and innovative information into so little space. Umberto Veronesi Preface Since 1976, the VICC has been holding chemotherapy courses in all parts of the world, excluding North America and Australia. The Manual of Cancer Chemotherapy, origi­ nally devised as a didactic tool to be used by course partici­ pants, expanded itself in the successive editions to a compre­ hensive, although schematic, textbook of medical oncology.