Mechanisms of Hormone Carcinogenesis: -- Adaptation to Estradiol Deprivation Causes Up-Regulation of Growth Factor Pathways and Hypersensitivity to Estradiol in Breast Cancer Cells -- Role of Endocrine-Genotoxic Switchings in Cancer and Other Human Diseases: -- Breast Development, Hormones and Cancer -- Epidemiology of Hormone-Associated Cancers as a Reflection of Age -- Obesity and Diabetes Epidemics: -- Progesterone Receptor Action: -- Aromatase Expression in Women's Cancers -- Proteomics of Cancer of Hormone-Dependent Tissues -- Endogenous Hormone Levels and Risk of Breast, Endometrial and Ovarian Cancers: -- Hormonal Heterogeneity of Endometrial Cancer -- Cell Cycle Machinery: -- Selective Estrogen Modulators as an Anticancer Tool: -- Pharmacogenomics of Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer -- Prevention of Breast Cancer Using SERMs -- General Conclusion. Atthebeginningofthe21thcentury,hormone associated tumorsmadeupnotless 1 than30 40%ofallhumancancers. Thus,theimportanceoftheproblem both me- calandsocial was thefirstreasonforthecreationofthisvolume. Accordingly, the firstgoalofthebookwastoreviewdifferent aspectsoftheextensivefieldofresearch intheareacoveredbythenotion'hormonesandcancer'. First,howeverdoesnotnecessarily meanmain.Mostofus knowthatscienceis aboutaskingquestions and finding credibleways to answerthem and that it works bestina culturethatwelcomes challenges toprevailing dogmas.'Thus,theprincipal aimof thisvolumeis to describethesenew and attractive ideasandmethodswhich haveanimatedoncoendocrinolgyin recentyears.Tofulfill thistask,theco editors of thebookwereguidedbya desireto describe therichinnovation inthisfield. Asaresult,thevolumeisdevotedtothenew developments insuchtopicsas mechanisms ofhormonal carcinogenesis (contributions ofJ. Chenetal;J.RussoandI. Russo; L.Berstein), epidemiology andriskfactors (contributions ofS.Ukraintsevaet al;A.Hjartakeretal;A.H.EliassenandS.Hankinson), hormoneproductionbytumor tissue(contributionofS.BulunandE.Simpson) andhormonal sensitivityofthelatter (contribution of C. Langeet al),genesis,dichotomy and endocrinology of cancerin females (contribution of C. Griindker et al), pharmacogenomics and proteomics in oncoendocrinology (contributions ofD. Tysonand D. Ornstein; R. Weinshilboum), biological coreofhormonalandantihormonal therapyofcancer(contributions ofR. Santenetal;A.Buttetal;S.SenguptaandV. C.Jordan)anditsprevention (T. Powles' contribution). Asoncewassaidbyprominentwriter:'Novelistsareeither"large audience" or"small audience'".' Wearehopingthatreadership ofthebook(whichtestifies that endocrinologyofcancerhasgonealongandfruitful way)willincreasegradually and receivefurtherstimulus neededfor subsequent achievements inthisinteresting area. Lev M Berstein, MD, PhD, DMS RichardJ. Santen, MD 1. Parkin DM, Fernandez LM. Use of statistics to assess the global burden of breast cancer. Breast J 2006; 12(Suppl 1):S70 80. 2. Omenn GS. Grand challenges and great opportunities in science, technology, and public policy. Science 2006; 314:1696 704. 3. Bellow S. Something to Remember Me By: Three Tales. New York: Viking, 1991. v ABOUT THE EDITORS...