Preventing Breast Cancer: The Story of a Major, Proven,
Preventable Cause of This Disease,
by John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D., 1995.
for the 1995, First Edition: 339 pages, August 1995.
Committee for Nuclear Responsibility Inc.,
Post Office Box 421993
San Francisco, CA 94142-1993
Tel: 415-776-8299.
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"Gofman considers radiation a prime cause ... of breast cancer,
and he documents his claim both here and in his new book ... It's
a story that must be told. We hope it moves you to action." ---
Susan Millar Perry, Editor-in-Chief of Longevity Magazine,
February 1995.
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"Dr. John Gofman, an emeritus professor at the University of
California at Berkeley and an expert on the effects of
radiation ... has estimated that at least two-thirds of
current breast cancer cases are the result of radiation exposure
received up to 60 years ago. While other experts dispute the
extent of radiation-induced cancers, few deny the hazards
[of accumulated breast-irradiation]." --- Jane E. Brody,
health columnist for the New York Times, in
the "Personal Health" column, May 17, 1995.
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"Gofman claims that up to 75% of all breast cancers seen today
may have been caused by ionizing radiation from medical
x-rays. If Gofman is right, the message is heartbreaking ...
Gofman's critics say he has vastly overstated the incidence of
x-ray-induced breast cancer ... Even if Dr. Gofman's numbers
are off, he has highlighted the havoc well-meaning technology
can wreak when pushed too far." --- Joan O'C Hamilton with
Neil Gross, "X-Rays under Fire," in Business Week, May
22, 1995.
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"I have just finished reading a remarkable new book by John
W. Gofman, entitled Preventing Breast Cancer. Gofman
calculates that 75% of all cases of breast cancer found
today were caused by the large amount of medical x-ray used
from about 1910 on ... I didn't believe it, so I decided to check
it out ... I believe that Gofman has made the best estimate,
to date, of the effect of radiation as a cause of breast
cancer." --- Dr. H. Ira Pilgrim, retired cancer biologist,
in "Ira's Corner," (a newspaper health column), June 9, 1995.
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"This book is very readable and understandable ... and obviously
important for understanding female breast-cancer
incidence. Gofman's evidence for a very substantial number of
breast cancers having been caused by medical practices is beyond
a reasonable doubt. " --- Prof. Allen B. Benson, Ph.D., author of
the book, Radioactive Fallout: Hanford's Radioactive
Iodine-131 Releases (1989).
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"In his new book, Dr. Gofman presents compelling evidence that
75 percent of today's breast cancer cases were triggered by
medical x-rays ... Dr. Gofman sees women as the greatest hope
for preventing breast cancer in future generations: Women
who are educated on the risks of radiation and who protect their
daughters and granddaughters from unnecessary exposure." Nancy
Evans, ex-president of Breast Cancer Action (San Francisco) and
member of the steering committee of the National Action Program
on Breast Cancer (a joint governmental-NGO effort).
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"I fully agree with Dr. Gofman's position that we must reduce
the amount of ionizing radiation delivered in connection with
diagnostic procedures other than mammography." Arthur Ulene,
M.D., former medical correspondent for the National Broadcasting
Corporation.
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"This book has it all ... Do yourself and your loved-ones a
favor: read Preventing Breast Cancer --- and get
active." Michael Colby, Executive Director of Food and Water,
Inc. (Vermont).
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"Reducing radiation to women's breasts would definitely reduce
the number of future breast cancers; of this there can
be no doubt. John Gofman's new book examines this problem
head on." --- Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly
#443, May 25, 1995.
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"Dr. John Gofman, probably the greatest scientist to emerge
from the radiation era, has written a new book that should
make the medical profession stand up and take notice ... [He]
argues that 75% of all breast cancers are caused by ionizing
radiation, predominantly medical x-rays. Gofman also notes
that radiation is one of the few absolutely proven causes of
breast cancer ... You need this book." ---
Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, May 22, 1995.
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Preventing Breast Cancer "will convince most [readers]
that x-rays have played a decidedly important role in the high
breast-cancer rate in the United States ... I urgently request
those who employ x-rays to study Gofman's monograph." ---
Prof. James C. Warf, author of the book, All Things
Nuclear (1990).
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"Gofman is doing a service by pointing out the reality of the
risk. Whether or not it [radiation exposure] is the most
important risk factor for breast cancer remains to be
substantiated." --- William E. Morton, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
of Environmental Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University,
Portland.
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"I think Gofman is making a very important contribution. There's
growing evidence to show that past uses of radiation may explain
some part of the increase in breast cancer." Devra Lee Davis,
Ph.D., MPH, senior advisor to the Asst. Secretary for Health,
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, in Your Health,
Vol.34, No.12, June 13,1995.
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"This book uniquely exemplifies science in the public interest."
--- Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Professor of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois,
Chicago; author of the book, The Politics of Cancer
(1979), and others.
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Susan Love, M.D., Director of the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center
and author of America's most popular "breast book," as
videotaped May 19, 1995, at a major lecture in San Francisco:
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Commenting on Dr. Gofman's book,
in which he concludes 75 percent
of current breast-cancer cases were induced by earlier exposure to
medical x-rays: "I'm not sure it's quite that high,
but I'm sure that a lot of the breast-cancer we're seeing now
can be explained by that. Back when we were kids, they were
using radiation for all kinds of things, and people really were
not aware of the risk. We used radiation for everything ... all
of those people have a higher risk of breast-cancer later on. So
there is no question that it does explain some of the
increase. I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying 75 %."
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Women's Community Cancer Project, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
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"In the midst of a bleak epidemic, Dr. Gofman's message is
hopeful: If medical radiation is one significant cause of
cancer, then real prevention becomes possible. Reducing
radiation to women's breasts would reduce the future number of
breast cancers. The Women's Community Cancer Project has long
focused on the impact of environmental carcinogens, such as
radiation and pesticides. We believe that low-level carcinogenic
insults accumulate and, together, form a significant cancer
risk. As such, we applaud Dr. Gofman's research efforts and
endorse his proposed steps to act now to reduce X-ray frequency
and dose, as presented at the end of the book. "
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- Gayle Greene, Ph.D., and Vicki Ratner, M.D., commenting on the book:
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"Fascinating. The book gives eye-opening documentation of some
horrendous practices, and is an important contribution to our
understanding of breast cancer and its prevention."
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Review of Preventing Breast Cancer by Gofman in the
Library Journal (USA),
August 1995:
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"[Dr. Gofman's] research is groundbreaking, and his earlier
books on the subject are considered landmarks. Here, he
estimates that 75 percent of breast cancer in women is the
direct result of earlier overexposure to radiation by
well-meaning but foolish doctors ... Reading this book may be
a rough slog for generalists but will be well worth the effort
for those, especially women, who are concerned about their
children and their children's children. Highly recommended."
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Mortimer Mendelsohn, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Director of the
Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima --- the
organization in charge of the Atomic-Bomb Survivor Study. From
the program "The X-Ray Effect." (about Dr. Gofman's book),
produced by London's 20/20 TV and broadcast August 3, 1995,
over Britain's Carlton television network:
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"John Gofman is a superb analyst and has always been at the
cutting edge of medical science, particularly when it comes
to protecting people."
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Edward P. Radford, M.D., epidemiologist and Chairman of the
National Academy of Sciences (USA) Committee on the Biological
Effects of Ionizing Radiation (which wrote the BEIR-3
Report). From the program "The X-Ray Effect." (about
Dr. Gofman's book), produced by London's 20/20 TV and broadcast
August 3, 1995, over Britain's Carlton television network
(Channel 3):
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"Dr. Gofman is owed a debt of gratitude by the scientific
community because he was one of the first people to raise
the issue of cancer risks from radiation exposure."
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Andrew A. Skolnick, reporter
for "Medical News & Perspectives," in
the Journal of the American Medical Assn., Vol. 274,
No. 5, pp.367-368, August 2, 1995:
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"A respected authority on the biological effects of ionizing
radiation has just published a book claiming that the vast
majority of breast cancers in the United States were caused
by the high doses of medical x-rays that women often received
in the decades before the carcinogenic effects of radiation
were recognized."
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Clark W. Heath, Jr., M.D., American Cancer Society (V.P. for
epidemiology and surveillance research), claims that Dr. Gofman
is "a very good radiation physicist who has had a remarkable
career" but who is wrong about his
75 % estimate. In the same
article (Journal of the American Medical Assn., August
2, 1995, p.368), Heath also says:
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"Gofman's idea that breast tissue is sensitive to ionizing
radiation, especially at younger ages, is quite correct. And
he rightly points out that fluoroscopy has often been
abused. Although not new, this general message --- I'm sure
radiologists will agree --- needs repeating."
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Dr. Colin Muirhead and Dr. Chris Sharp of Britain's National
Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) assert that
Dr. Gofman's 75% estimate is
wrong. In the same article (Radiological
Protection Bulletin, No. 168, August 1995, p.13) they also
say:
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"Dr. Gofman's book is ingenuously written, persuasive, and
easily readable by the non-expert."
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Alice M. Stewart, M.D., epidemiologist at Birmingham University
Hospital, and principal investigator of the Oxford Study;
it was the first study (1956) to show excess childhood cancer
and leukemia from exposure to medical x-rays in the womb. From
the program "The X-Ray Effect" (about Dr. Gofman's book), produced
by London's 20/20 TV and broadcast August 3, 1995, over Britain's
Carlton television network:
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"The real reason that he [Gofman] is being objected to at the
moment is that nobody likes to have to challenge the methods of
x-raying that are going on. It's a sort of challenge to
medicine's favorite toy."
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Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., GNSH, International Institute of Concern
for Public Health in Toronto, commenting on the book:
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"Gofman's handling of the high relative risk for young women was superb."