Over the last thirty years, while most major cancers have started to decline, breast cancer incidence in the US has increased by an alarming 40%. Most of this increase has occurred in the authors' generation, the generation of "Women's Lib."
This generation has lived with marked changes in lifestyle compared to their mothers. For example, they pursued careers and delayed childbearing with the help of contraceptive pills or decided to forego childbearing altogether. Such changes in reproductive patterns as well as other lifestyle changes can account for most, if not all of the increase in breast cancer. "You've come a long way baby," said one ad encouraging women to smoke, causing not only an increase in lung cancer but in breast and other cancers as well.
Publication of the first edition of this booklet was prompted by the authors' knowledge that much of the recent surge in breast cancer was attributable to avoidable risks, and the fact that other sources of information on breast cancer risk tended not to offer complete information on avoidable risks. It has been the authors' hope that, armed with full and accurate information, women can make healthier choices that will minimize their risk of breast cancer.
In this effort, the third edition has been greatly expanded, with particular emphasis on dietary and lifestyle factors, such as alternatives to hormone use for contraception and postmenopausal medication. The reference list has also been updated and expanded.
The authors thank Helen Mayernik for the preparation and design of this manuscript.
Angela Lanfranchi, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Joel Brind, Ph.D.
July 18, 2005