The American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute do harm to women while claiming to protect them, charge the authors of this sure-to-be controversial work. Epstein, professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois and author of The Politics of Cancer, and investigative journalist Steinman (Diet for a Poisoned Planet), take the ACS and NCI to task for focusing on diagnosis, treatment and genetic research rather than prevention. They explain numerous medical, dietary and environmental risk factors for breast cancer and describe the steps a woman can take to avoid them. High on their list is estrogen exposure through oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy, but they also document the risks of mammography, breast implants, tamoxifen and common antibiotics and tranquilizers. Other risk factors include smoking and drinking, food contaminants and hazards in the home, community and workplace. Pulling no punches in their analysis of the politics of breast cancer, the authors urge women not only to protect themselves from preventable risk factors, but to cast a critical eye on the ""cancer establishment"" and to become grassroots cancer-prevention activists. Author tour. (Oct.)
