Under the Radar: Cancer and the Cold War (Critical Issues in Health and Medicine) (Critical Issues in Health and Medicine)

At the end of the Second World War, a diagnosis of cancer was a death sentence. Sixty years later, it is considered a chronic disease rather than one that is invariably fatal. Although survival rates have improved, the very word continues to evoke a special terror and guilt, inspiring scientists and politicians to wage war against it. In Under the Radar , Ellen Leopold shows how nearly every aspect of our understanding and discussion of cancer bears the imprint of its Cold War entanglement. The current biases toward individual rather than corporate responsibility for rising incidence rates, research that promotes treatment rather than prevention, and therapies that can be patented and marketed all reflect a largely hidden history shaped by the Cold War. Even the language we use to describe the disease, such as the guiding metaphor for treatment, "fight fire with fire," can be traced back to the middle of the twentieth century. Writing in a lucid style, Leopold documents the military, governmental, industrial, and medical views of radiation and atomic energy to examine the postwar response to cancer through the prism of the Cold War. She explores the role of radiation in cancer therapies today, using case studies and mammogram screening, in particular, to highlight the surprising parallels. Taking into account a wide array of disciplines, this book challenges our understanding of cancer and how we approach its treatment.

In Under the Radar, Ellen Leopold shows how nearly every aspect of our understanding and discussion of cancer bears the imprint of its Cold War entanglement. The current biases toward individual rather than corporate responsibility for rising incidence rates, research that promotes treatment rather than prevention, and therapies that can be patented and marketed all reflect a largely hidden history shaped by the Cold War.

The Barnes & Noble Review

The ghost of Irma Natanson is felt throughout Under the Radar, Ellen Leopold's unsettling investigation into the effects of Cold War ideology on cancer care. Natanson was a 34-year-old housewife and mother in Kansas when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1955; after a radical mastectomy, she became perhaps the first patient ever to undergo cobalt radiation therapy. The radiation left her severely burned and disabled for the remainder of her life, and she successfully sued her doctor for failing to warn her of the treatment's risks. Leopold argues that patients like Natanson were unwitting guinea pigs in government-supported experiments to establish the limits of human tolerance for radiation, a pressing concern as nuclear weapons were being developed. The author delves deeply into radiation's dual position as both cause of and cure for cancer, examining everything from radioactive fallout to the alliance between government and industry to encourage the development of medical technologies with a close affinity to weapons programs. She even sees the Cold War connection reflected in the militaristic language still used to describe battles with cancer (and, on the flip side, the common '50s formulation referring to the cancer of communism, which didn't just spread but metastasized). What alternative...approaches have fallen by the wayside, lacking the kind of heavy-duty institutional backing granted to radiotherapies? Leopold asks, forcing some uncomfortable questions about all of the roads not taken in cancer prevention and treatment. --Barbara Spindel

At the end of the Second World War, a diagnosis of cancer was a death sentence. Sixty years later, it is considered a chronic disease rather than one that is invariably fatal. Although survival rates have improved, the very word continues to evoke a special terror and guilt, inspiring scientists and politicians to wage war against it. In Under the Radar, Ellen Leopold shows how nearly every aspect of our understanding and discussion of cancer bears the imprint of its Cold War entanglement. The current biases toward individual rather than corporate responsibility for rising incidence rates, research that promotes treatment rather than prevention, and therapies that can be patented and marketed all reflect a largely hidden history shaped by the Cold War. Even the language we use to describe the disease, such as the guiding metaphor for treatment,'fight fire with fire,'can be traced back to the middle of the twentieth century. Writing in a lucid style, Leopold documents the military, governmental, industrial, and medical views of radiation and atomic energy to examine the postwar response to cancer through the prism of the Cold War. She explores the role of radiation in cancer therapies today, using case studies and mammogram screening, in particular, to highlight the surprising parallels. Taking into account a wide array of disciplines, this book challenges our understanding of cancer and how we approach its treatment. Examines the postwar response to cancer through the prism of the Cold War Goes beyond medical science to look at the influence of Cold War policies on the way we think about cancer today Links the experience of postwar cancer patients with the broader evolution of what have become cancer industries Traces the history of human-made radiation as a state-sponsored environmental toxin "In Under the Radar, Ellen Leopold shows how nearly every aspect of our understanding and discussion of cancer bears the imprint of its Cold War entanglement, including perhaps the most visible sign of this influence, the prominence of radiation therapies in today's treatment arsenal. Current biases toward individual rather than corporate responsibility for rising incidence rates, research that promotes treatment rather than prevention, and therapies that can be patented and marketed all reflect a largely hidden history shaped by the Cold War. Even the language we have borrowed from this disease to describe social upheavals - the "cancer of communism," "metastasizing insurgencies"--Can be traced back to the middle of the twentieth century when atomic energy first appeared on the international stage."--Jacket Double jeopardy: cancer and the "cure"--The court considers informed consent -- The rise of radioactive cobalt -- The back story: "a little of the Buchenwald touch" -- Behind the fallout controversy: the public, the press, and conflicts of interest -- Cancer and fallout: science by circumvention -- Paradise lost -- Subdued by the system -- The hidden assassin: the individual at fault -- Experiments by other means Double jeopardy: cancer and the "cure" The court considers informed consent The rise of radioactive cobalt The back story: "a little of the Buchenwald touch" Behind the fallout controversy: the public, the press, and conflicts of interest Cancer and fallout: science by circumvention Paradise lost Subdued by the system The hidden assassin: the individual at fault Experiments by other means.