While PubMed encourages using basic searches, there is also the option to build a guided advanced search. This can be done using the advanced search view (which also allows you to see past searches from your current session) or by using Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT.
When you open the advanced search you will see the page is divided into three sections. The first has a search box, but unlike the basic search you can choose to search specific fields here such title, author, etc.
You can type these out in the basic search box by appending your search terms with the correct tag. For example, searching on cancer[TIAB] will search for cancer, but only when it appears in a title or abstract field of an article. You can see a full list of tags and descriptions here.
The middle portion of the advanced search contains a query box which allows you to build a guided search using specific fields and combining terms with the Booleans AND, OR, and NOT.
The bottom third shows you your search history for the current session, as well as your search details (click the dropdown arrow to see the details). These details will show you any term mapping for MeSH that PubMed is doing automatically for you.
You can combine search with Actions and download the search details as well.
