Estrogen and breast cancer

In 1940, an American woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer was about 1-in-20. By 1993, that risk had become 1-in-8. Estrogen and Breast Cancer examines the evidence linking this alarming rise to the parallel increase in the use of estrogen products, especially The Pill and hormone replacement therapy. Estrogen and Breast Cancer is a cautionary tale about American medicine's well-intentioned but often misinformed infatuation with female hormones. Carol Ann Rinzler chronicles the sixty-year attempt to "cure" menopause with female hormones and the forty-year history of chemical contraception. She details the lengthening list of medical and epidemiological studies that show estrogen to be a potential carcinogen, and distills a wealth of research into a fascinating account of what we now know about the link between estrogen and breast cancer.

Estrogen and Breast Cancer sheds light on a critical dilemma of modern medicine: how to balance the benefits of a drug against its risks. Avoiding a blanket condemnation of estrogen use, Rinzler makes it clear that some women are more likely than others to develop breast cancer, and warns that women and doctors facing decisions about contraception or hormone therapy need to take these differences into account. Finally, Estrogen and Breast Cancer lays out a blueprint for change. It offers a prudent seven-point agenda that urges doctors to tailor treatment to individual patients, calls on elected officials to create guidelines for assessing risks and benefits of estrogen products, and provides women with the information they need to take responsibility for their own medical decisions.

Any woman considering the use of oral contraceptives for birth control or hormone replacement therapy for menopausal symptoms owes it to herself to read Estrogen and Breast Cancer before making her decision. It is a book that will change opinions - and may save lives.