Abstract
The Wiley Blackwell publication of the first edition of Pathology for Toxicologists, edited by Dr. Elizabeth McInnes, aims at filling the gap between the 2 complementary disciplines of pathology and toxicology with an eye on the study personnel supporting toxicity assessment studies across pharmaceutical, chemical, and device industries. The book succinctly covers the general underpinnings of pathology data generation and interpretation, with the honorable goal of facilitating the use, communication, understanding, and integration of pathology data into toxicology reports.
The paperback format provided for this review is concise and portable, consists of good print quality and illustrations, and is thoroughly referenced. Six highly qualified authors contributed with 8 chapters (4 of which were authored by the editor), spanning various themes in pathology data generation and interpretation, including an introduction to pathology techniques, recording pathology data, general pathology and the terminology of basic pathology, common spontaneous and background lesions in laboratory animals, target organ pathology, clinical pathology, adversity from the pathologist’s perspective, and limitations of pathology and animal models.
The book opens with an introduction to pathology techniques, with considerations for the study design and animal species selection, as well as for the sample collection stages including necropsy, tissue sampling, processing, and microscopic examination. An excellent review follows on how toxicologic pathology data are generated, organized, interpreted, and reported. Pathology data quality control, sources of variability, and the nuances of the qualitative, semiquantitative, and quantitative nature of pathology data are conferred, and the latter handily contrasted in a text table. General mechanisms of cellular and tissue response to injury, and terminology used to describe them, are presented along with illustrations and concise diagrams. Background pathology findings with specific examples, complete with illustrations, are presented for the most common laboratory species including the rat, mouse, dog, minipig, nonhuman primate, and rabbits. An overview of target organ toxicity is provided for the major organ systems.
The book also includes an outstanding overview of routine clinical pathology in the context of nonclinical investigation and safety assessment including customized biomarkers. Adversity assessment, perhaps the most critical aspect of safety evaluation, is thoroughly presented along with the bases for determining and communicating adversity. Finally, the book wraps up with a discussion on the limitations of animal models and pathology data in the context of efficacy and safety assessment, spanning the common pitfalls and subjective nature of pathology data, accompanied by a proposed framework on how to leverage the pathologist contribution by managing the risks associated with the intrinsic subjectivity of pathology data.
At the beginning of each chapter, a learning objectives box frames the most important concepts to be attained and, at its conclusion, a comprehensive list of references points the reader to additional information. The book is complete with an index and a glossary (a must-have when working with pathology terminology and acronyms). In sum, this textbook is a bridging reference covering the general bases of pathology data generation, interpretation, and communication that early career and practicing toxicologists will find useful.