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 - One I'll keep on my shelf and loan to my friendsAlthough it's no surprise to me that businesses in the US have abused the health of its employees and customers, my eyes were opened to a raft of information I had not heard before. In particular, I was amazed to learn that the Nazis knew almost as much about the link between environmental toxins and cancer as we do today and how unfortunate it was that their good work was eclipsed by the huge evil of antisemitism and aggression. One result of reading this book was that I immediately began to look at the skin care products on my shelf with alarm and went on a campaign to replace them with products not containing the carcinogens Devra Davis listed. I was shocked to learn that the US FDA does not offer its constituents protection from products containing 1,4 dioxane, which is a known carcinogenic byproduct of many commonly used additives, while all countries in Europe regulate this threat. Others must have read her book as well, because an organization for consumers of organic products started to test products marketed as "organic" or "natural" for 1,4 dioxane (never mind the ones that aren't labeled organic -- they are chock full of the stuff) and they found that nearly half did have it. In that regard, Ms. Davis has rendered a valuable service to everyone who wants to avoid cancer. Despite the technical nature of the subject, Ms. Davis has written it so well that I had no trouble following it. Interesting and a good read! Rating:  - Stimulating ReadingMy sister-in-law was undergoing treatment for lung cancer when I saw this book this past fall. My husband was looking for medical books to study and I happened to find this at the OSU bookstore. I picked it up simply because I knew someone was going through cancer at the time and I thought, this really sounds interesting and controversial. It is. It is very interesting reading. It is compelling. It can be alarming, but you have to remember, there is always two sides to the story, even on cancer research. But based on my personal experiences, I chose to believe that we're not doing enough to prevent cancer from happening. Sure, cancer will happen no matter what is done to take care of it, but if we're able to contain lethal diseases like bubonic plague, smallpox, measles and etc., with simple life-saving methods, why not eradicate cancer causes? There is so much money spent on treatments to cure cancer but I feel there aren't enough in the studies to prevent cancer from occuring. Yes, that would be a major overhaul of a system that relies on industries to keep the world turning. One can take the lessons learned from this book and apply it to one's life or one can just totally disregard everything that this author has written. Personally, I tend to agree with this author. There are a lot out there that have not been assembled into any shape or form of scientific studies that are available for the public, or if they are, they're not easily accessible. Davis has found hundreds of papers and condensed it in a brief study of how cancer may be prevented from occuring in the first place if certain components were removed or reduced. It's about preventive medicine (which is not a popular topic in the community where I live). But until corporations and communties work together to eradicate these components, there is not much that can be done. But the word ought be out there and people should be more aware of what is going on in their environment. Maybe it's too late for my parents' and my generations, but something can be done to prevent horrible deaths for our children and grandchildren. Cancer is not a fun way to go. It's hard on the survivors, both mentally and physically. It's hard on the cancer patient unable to have the quality of life they wish to have before they die. It's a brutual disease. This is an excellent book, though like one reviewer said, it tends to jump back and forth among the chapters, leaving some confusion for the reader. It does need better editing and the chapters better contained. But it is a well-researched book for the lay person. The reader can take it or leave it but it's there in black and white, the history of the war on cancer. Whether or not it's a complete history of the war, who knows? But it's there and it's a start for the person who is interested in learning more on how to prevent cancer from occuring in one's lifetime or family. It is not an answer-all book, it never promised that. But it is interesting reading and it's very compelling. The author makes a good argument. This is one keeper in my personal library. Hopefully, as people start cleaning up their environment and pursue greener options in lieu of global warming issues, we may see the decrease in cancer causes. One can always hope. 3/15/08 Rating:  - Save Your Money! Read Cancer Wars instead!Instead of Davis's book, I recommend "Cancer Wars- How Politics Shapes What We Know and Don't Know About Cancer" by Stanford Professor, Robert Proctor. Proctor analyzes the different types of respose to cancer. Davis's book is a classic illustration of left-wing, environmental causation beliefs. Proctor also analyzed industry response to cancer which he named as " trade association science", otherwise known as junk science. Proctor notes that doubt is the desired end product for junk science. With significant public doubt, policy and regulation can not go forward. It seems to me that Davis's desired product is belief- belief in environmental causation of many cancers. It is not likely that you will find a discussion of natural carcinogens in Davis's work. Proctor discusses natural carcinogens in "Cancer Wars". Natural carcinogens occur in natural environment and are not caused by industry. Radon, a naturally occuring gas is a natural carcinogen. Lung cancer is a "life-style" cancer caused mainly by cigarette smoking. Viruses such as Human Papilloma Virus cause cancer. Molds (afloxins) cause cancer. Hepatitus C is associated with liver cancer. Helicobacter pylori bacteria are associated with stomach cancer. Breast cancer was known as "The Nun's Disease" by Bernadino Ramazzini (1633-1714) long before the current rise of breast cancer, most of which is attributed to "life-style". Too much sunlight causes cancer. The New York Review of Books (March 6, 2008) has a long review of Davis's book by Richard Horton, M. D. He is an editor at Lancet , the British medical journal and a professor at University College -London. He discusses many of Davis's allegations and beliefs. He concludes with the following statements: "But taken together, Davis's argument's are little more than a collection of vague exhortations to do some thing based upon a distorted reading of the cancer literature. Her loose speculations weaken her entirely reasonable claim that the war on cancer has been little more than an erratic skirmish. ..... .. she builds her arguments into towering yet brittle threats, out of all proportion to the real and more robust dangers that face us every day." Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a breast oncologist at NIH wrote a long, thoughtful review of The Secret History of the War on Cancer for The New Republic. Dr. Emanuel states "...it is unclear exactly what Davis is up to, other than trying to stoke unfocused fear about the oncological consequences of the environment." Emanuel states that Davis talks about cancer prevention she does not embrace the successful cancer prevention campaigns that already exist such as the Pap smear's role in preventing cervical cancer and now the vaccine against Human Papilloma virus for cervical cancer. Davis does not acknowledge the fact that stomach cancer was a leading cause of cancer deaths early in 20th Century in the US and now has very low rates. This massive lowering of stomach cancer rates occured with no program by government or science but mostly by a change in hygiene habits of citizens. Stomach cancer is widespread in rest of world. Dr. Emanuel summarizes his review with these words " The Secret History of the War on Cancer" is a hysterical and exasperating book." Please be advised. Rating: - A Brave Book that Needs Wider AttentionDevra Davis has combined history, personal anecdote and experience, and deep scientific knowledge and research to provide readers with a sometimes chilling view of where we stand in the "war against cancer." She is not afraid to name names of both individuals and corporations who have too often put profit above people. The frightening thing as one reads this is how current the continuing coverups and dissembling are; this is not the story of past misdeeds alone. There is a lot of information here that needs to be much more widely disseminated and discussed. As we look to a new administration in 2009, this book will be a good one for voters and policy makers alike to read and use for beginning new ways of approaching some of the environmental health issues Dr. Davis raises. As she points out over and over, we need not only to work for better treatments for cancer cases; we need to work to eliminate those carcinogenic factors we can control. As long as factions pit tobacco against pollution against other chemicals, always pointing the finger away from their own actions, the "war on cancer" will continue to be too weakly fought. Dr. Davis has provided a great service, but I have given this only 4 stars due to the need to tighten the writing of the book. Her history lessons were superb, but too many chapters jumped from one subject to the next without cohesiveness; sometimes I found myself having to go back a couple of pages to review the thread of a topic that she suddenly brought back into her narrative. A little more editing and this would be a standout five star book. Nonetheless, read the book, buy a copy or two and pass it on to all those you know who are in or outside the field of medicine, whose family members have already been touched by cancer or, as is more and more likely, will be in the future. Rating: - Do Not Miss!What Ms Davis speaks of in this book comes as no surprise to me. As a PharmD who has two parents who are Physicians I have known this info all along. It is so important for everyone to read so we can try to change the way the "War on Cancer" is being fought. Yes, it would affect my job as an Pharmacist but I see the pain and suffering in my patient's and their family's eyes every day. Devra uncovers why these families are still suffering after all these years and it all starts with the mighty $. In association with Amazon.com | |