Ciba Foundation Symposium on Amino Acids and Peptides with Antimetabolic Activity

This is another in the series of Ciba Foundation symposiums. The subject matter ranges from the stereochemistry of naturally occurring B-amino acids through the influence of amino acid deficiencies on experimental cancer chemotherapy and the mode of action of chloramphenicol. The volume should appeal mainly to organic chemists and biochemists who are interested in the reactions, characterization, and synthesis of organic compounds containing amino acids and having chemotherapeutic value. Almost two-thirds of the book is devoted to the chemistry of such substances. Among the compounds discussed, besides those mentioned elsewhere, are actinomycin, etamycin, cyclic polypeptides, and bacitracin. It should also appeal to experimenters in the field of cancer chemotherapy for its excellent discussions of the antitumor activity of azaserine and nitrogen mustard derivatives of amino acids.

Although the book contains only a few sections of direct interest to the clinician, the three chapters dealing with clinical trials with azaserine and