Issue #27, Fall/Winter 2002

Stop the Epidemic is the Official Newsletter of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition

• Renewed Call to Action
  Navigating the breast cancer wars these days is a lot like being Alice in Wonderland.
  
  
• Evolution of Cancer Etiology and Primary Prevention
  One of the barriers to eradicating breast cancer is the lack of a public demand for research and identification of primary prevention strategies that will stop the breast cancer epidemic rather than treat it. Currently however, there is minimal funding for research on etiology and prevention. The following condensed excerpt from an article by James Huff and Lorenzo Tomatis, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, offers a compelling perspective on this critical diversion away from research into primary prevention.
  
  
• Marketing Hypocrisy and Breast Cancer
  The first time pink ribbons made me see red was a couple of years back, when I was stopped short by a sign at a gas station. Cunningly placed next to a pump, it sported the ubiquitous pink bow and read: "Be a driving force against breast cancer." For me, who had finished treatment for the disease three years earlier at the age of 35, that tore it.
  
  
• Swim Against the Tide – Everyone’s a Winner
  On August 17, 2001, while pregnant with her first child, Lauren Elliott-Grunes heard the words that changed her life. "You have breast cancer." One year later to the day, Lauren’s husband, Rich stood on the shore of Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park cheering his wife on to the finish line at the third annual Cape Cod Against the Tide swim.
  
  
• MBCC Participates in the Tufts 10K to Support Silent Spring Institute
  Two MBCC Board members participated in the Tufts Health Plan 10K Women’s Race in Boston on October 13, 2001.
  
  
• MBCC Campaigns and Projects
  At the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition we are supported primarily by individual donations and fundraising efforts. We are committed to maintaining low expenses and overhead.
  
  
• Review for Cape Study Findings
  Reports describing the scientific findings from Phase II of the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study were delivered to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) in late June and are currently undergoing scientific review.
  
  
• Online Resources on Women’s Health and the Environment Bolstered by NLM Grant to Silent Spring Institute
  Reaching the public and scientific communities with accurate, current, and understandable information on breast cancer and research on environmental links to this disease is a bedrock goal of Silent Spring Institute and its founding organization, the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition.