MDs attacked for not informing women of risks

By Tanya Talaga, Toronto Star Medical Reporter

July 28, 1999 OTTAWA - Women should take Aspirin three times a week to prevent breast cancer, says Dr. Samuel Epstein, an author and expert from the University of Illinois School of Public Health.

He said there would be a "30 per cent reduction in the incidence of breast cancer'' if women would take the drug many have been popping for years to avoid heart disease.

Epstein caused a stir at the World Conference on Breast Cancer yesterday when he said the medical establishment is engaged in a conspiracy by failing to inform the public of 12 avoidable risks of breast cancer.

"The reason why you haven't heard about it is because Aspirin is a cheap drug and nobody is going to make money out of it,'' he told reporters.

Aspirin can inhibit the growth and formation of blood vessels, starving a tumour to death, he said.

Epstein told the conference that the American Cancer Society and other institutes have a vested interest in focusing on treatment - not prevention - because they have links to major drug and technology companies.

"It is my position that the cancer establishments . . . bear a very major responsibility for losing a winnable war against cancer,'' he said.

The Canadian Cancer Society objected to his comments, saying it raises money"to fight cancer and fight it on all fronts.''

Society director Dorothy Lamont said most of the group's money comes from public donations, not big drug companies.

Epstein has compiled a list of the"dirty dozen'' cancer risks women should avoid. The list, based on thousands of studies that he says contain suggestive to substantive evidence, breaks down into three risk categories: medical, industrial and lifestyle.

At the top of the medical list is the early and prolonged use of oral contraceptives, or the birth control pill, followed by estrogen replacement therapy; pre-menopausal mammographies with early and repeated exposure; and silicone-gel breast implants, especially those wrapped in polyurethane foam.

Epstein said women should avoid diets high in animal and dairy fat,"contaminated'' with pesticides and other petrochemicals. Eating meat containing sex hormones is also risky.

Exposure to household chemicals, such as paint thinners, and hazardous waste sites is also dangerous, he said, as is contact with carcinogens in the workplace.

Epstein said cancer prevention should start at an early age. Young women who drink alcohol excessively or engage in binge drinking could be putting themselves at risk later in life. So are smokers who start early and continue with the habit, he said.

Women of all ages should make sure they exercise regularly.

Epstein also warns against the early, prolonged use of dark hair dyes.

Reprint: The Toronto Star