Nexus - 0803 - New Times Magazine-pages

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— BREAST CANCER — Detection or Deception? BREAST CANCER Detection Deception? Breast cancer rates are on the rise around the world, and X-ray mammography and environmental toxins are partly to blame for the increase. hen it comes to finding solutions to the many problems facing our lives, the message of His Holiness the Dalai Lama—"Change only takes place through action"—might be our rallying call, and might very well have been the rallying call which galvanised millions of women throughout the world to support the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Every October since 1985, the recognisable symbol of Breast Cancer Awareness Month—the pink ribbon bow—is prominently displayed all over TV, on posters and in magazine advertisements and proudly adorns women's lapels. The multitude of fundrais- ing runs, hikes, walks and various other events raise hundred of millions of dollars to con- quer that dreaded scourge of the modern woman: breast cancer. High-profile companies like Avon, Lee Denim and Revlon have joined ranks, along with the Susan G. Komen Foundation's "Race for the Cure" and the LA City of Hope Hospital's "Walk for Hope". Popular celebrities have been enlisted to lead the charge. Each year, 180,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 44,000 die of the disease. The US has one of the highest breast cancer rates of any country in the world. Fifty years ago, the incidence for a woman's lifetime risk was one in twenty. Now it has skyrocketed to one in eight. Clearly, the so-called "war on can- cer" has not even made a dent into the breast cancer epidemic, as the rate continues to climb by one per cent a year. The motto of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is "Early detection is your best protec- tion", since the National Cancer Institute stated in 1995 that "Breast cancer is simply not a preventable disease". The American Cancer Society iterated a similar message in 1997 with its announcement that "there are no practical ways to prevent breast cancer—only early detection".' Therefore mammograms have become the front line of defence. And celebrities like Rosie O'Donnell offer free T-shirts—bearing the honourable words, "I've been squished"—if you'll just make a date with your local X-ray department. So let's all join in and wave our pink ribbons and don those running shoes and take to the roads, right? Before you get swept up by the emotional frenzy of this call to arms, there is something you must know. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Breast Cancer Awareness Month's primary sponsor and the mastermind of the event in 1985 was Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, now known as AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca is the com- pany which manufactures the controversial and widely prescribed breast cancer drug, tamoxifen. All TV, radio and print media advertising is paid for and must be approved by AstraZeneca. It is less well known that AstraZeneca also makes herbicides and fungicides. One of its products, the organochlorine pesticide acetochlor, is implicated as a causal factor in breast cancer. Zeneca's Perry, Ohio, chemical plant is a major source of potential cancer-causing pollution in the US, spewing 53,000 pounds of recognised carcinogens into the air in 1996.* When it comes to the environmental carcinogens found in pesticides, herbicides, other toxic chemicals and plastics, there is booming silence by all Breast Cancer Awareness Month programs. Did the alarming increase in breast cancer rates just mysteriously hap- pen? Or perhaps the focus on the cure has conveniently ignored the cause? After all, if it became general knowledge that Zeneca's chemical products and factories directly con- tribute to the breast cancer epidemic, this would certainly sully their PR campaign. by Sherrill Sellman © 2000-01 Get Well International PO Box 690416 Tulsa, OK 74169-0416, USA E-mail: info@ssellman.com Website: www.ssellman.com Get Well International PO Box 690416 Tulsa, OK 74169-0416, USA E-mail: info@ssellman.com Website: www.ssellman.com APRIL — MAY 2001 NEXUS = 41 www.nexusmagazine.com