• Durie P
• et al
• eds. Genetic Disorders of the Exocrine Pancreas

This multiauthor work, derived from a symposium held in April 2001, summarises our current knowledge of the genetics of exocrine pancreatic disease. As is usual with such publications, the individual chapters have been written as free standing presentations which results in a degree of repetition. The editors have grouped the chapters into sections; a “consensus conference” dealing with ethical issues and with guidelines for prevention, screening, and treatment is followed by sections on hereditary pancreatitis (HP), pancreatic cancer, and cystic fibrosis. Finally, there is a conference report and a monograph celebrating the work of Henry Lynch of the eponymous cancer syndromes.

The first section will be of the most practical interest to general gastroenterologists. Gastrointestinal physicians and surgeons should already be aware of the ethics of screening from more …