Much needed clarity upon breast cancer

Too often we are inundated by alarmist reports screaming that the Ultimate Cause of Cancer has been found.  From cell phone radiation to red meat, practically every facet of modern society has been fingered at some point or another.  The reality of cancer is considerably more complex, as it may well have as many manifestations as causes.  Susan M. Love* recently made this case more eloquently than I have over at The Huffington Post and it bears repeating here:

Studying one chemical at a time in cells or rats will not be able to predict what the effects in women might be. As one basic scientist said to me the problem with studying women is that “they are so messy and we can’t control all the factors.” But it is this messiness, or complex web of factors that leads to breast cancer. And it is only by studying women in all their complexity that we will be able to figure out all the causes of breast cancer.

This kind of bluntness is much needed in the media, although it should also be noted that this complexity does not rule out the extant utility of animal studies.

*I respect Dr. Susan M. Love for not using her post as a promotion of her book, Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book, or to overtly push her organization, The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation.