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Dealing with provocative issues, the newly
released film, “War on Cancer” asks, “Are we any closer to winning
the war on cancer — the same war that Richard
Nixon declared in the early ‘70s?” The answer, according
to most of the researchers, oncologists, activists and
journalists interviewed in this film, is a resounding, “No!”
Hospital cancer wards are filled to capacity, reflecting the
statistics that half of all men, and a third of all women,
will get some form of cancer in their lifetime.
The Young Survivor’s Coalition, a national organization,
states on its web site that breast cancer is the leading cause
of cancer death in women between the ages of 15 – 54 and
250,000 U.S women under the age of 40, have breast cancer.
Decades ago, it was rare to hear of anyone under 40
diagnosed with breast cancer, especially teenage girls.
In view of these stark numbers, researchers and
activists in War on Cancer sound an alarm against letting
pharmaceuticals, radiation and surgery remain our only focus. Undoubtedly,
people who have cancer should have access to care in order to obtain
a full quality of life, but our priority should also be to save
lives by preventing cancer from occurring in the first place. How
else can we begin to protect future generations from this ongoing
epidemic?
In simple terms, the new mantra should be“Prevention Is the Cure”.
Dr. Devra Lee Davis, who was interviewed in “War on
Cancer”, recently stated in her newly released book,“The Secret History of the War on Cancer,” that there
have been over 10 million preventable cancer deaths over
the past 30 years, due to an obsessive, militaristic focus
on “beating” the disease, rather than removing carcinogens
from our environment or adopting other preventative measures.
How do we begin to prevent cancer? First we must take
a look at one over-arching parallel. As cancer rates have
risen over the past 50 years, so has the simultaneous
introduction of over 80,000 synthetic chemicals into our
environment. Many of these chemicals are in products
that we use daily. Only a small percentage of these
chemicals have been tested for chronic diseases such as
cancer, or neurological diseases. There is increasing evidence
that many of these chemicals are probable carcinogens
and many are also suspected hormone disruptors
which may be the cause of many hormonal cancers such
as breast, ovarian, prostate, testicular and thyroid.
Activists across the county warn that a growing body of
evidence compels us to take precautions against these
exposures so that we don’t find out down the road, as we
did with asbestos, lead and tobacco, that they should have
been avoided.
How to practice prevention? First, become educated on
how to avoid potential toxic exposures such as pesticides,
certain plastics, cleaners /solvents, paints, air fresheners,
certain cosmetics, etc.
For websites related to these topics
go to:
Second, urge more funding to researchers who are
studying the effects of toxins that cause cancer.
Tragically, breast cancer researchers who are studying
breast cancer and environmental exposures in order to
assess what causes the disease receive less than 6%
of the funding allocated for all breast cancer research.
Lastly, support local, state and national legislation that
addresses the elimination or reduction of toxic exposures
in our environment.
In order to obtain DVD copies of the film, “War on
Cancer”, contact Films for the Humanities & Sciences
800/257-5126 or visit, www.FILMS.com.
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