Modern scientific tools can identify a genetic predisposition to cancer before any disease is detectable. Some women will never develop breast or ovarian cancer, but they nevertheless must decide, as a result of genetic testing, whether to have their breasts and ovaries removed to avoid the possibility of disease. The striking contrast between the sophistication of diagnosis and the crudeness of preventive surgery forms the basis of historian Ilana Lowy's important study. Lowy traces the history of prophylactic amputations through a century of preventive treatment and back to a long tradition of surgical management of gynecological problems. In the early twentieth century, surgeons came to believe that removing precancerous lesions-a term difficult to define even today-averted the danger of malignancy. This practice, Lowy finds, later led to surgical interventions for women with a hereditary predisposition to cancer but no detectable disease. Richly detailed stories of patients and surgeons in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom allow Lowy to compare the evolution of medical thought and practice-and personal choice-in these different cultures. Preventive Strikes aims to improve our understanding of professional, social, and cultural responses to cancer in the twenty-first century and to inform our reflections about how values are incorporated into routine medical practices.

About the Author
Ilana Lowy is a senior researcher at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Science.

Reviews
Splendid... This is a major study for doctors and historians alike. Medical History 2010 Elegantly captures the history of the medicine and the politics, showing how they are interlinked. Lancet 2010 A riveting and tragic story. -- Iona Heath International Journal of Epidemiology 2010 A valuable contribution to the historical scholarship on risk, surgery and cancer, and one can only wish that it will influence current discussions around the topic. -- Thomas Schlich Nuncius 2010 Preventive Strikes, the work of a gifted scholar, is an ambitious contribution to cancer history. -- James S. Olson Social History of Medicine 2011 Lowy makes very clear the price that patients continue to pay for medicine's ignorance of the lessons of its history. She has done us all a service. -- Iona Heath Social History of Medicine 2011 Penetrating, witty... A major study for doctors and historians alike. -- Christopher Lawrence Medical History 2010 Preventive Strikes: Women, Precancer, and Prophylactic Surgery elegantly captures the history of the medicine and the politics. -- Sander L. Gilman Lancet 2010



Book Information
ISBN 9780801893643
Author Ilana Loewy
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
Publisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 27mm