Prevention is a complex matter, with multiple components. In this newsletter devoted to cancer prevention, we have generally focused on research issues related to the elucidation of genetic, lifestyle, environmental, and other risk factors that impact on one's risk for developing different types of cancer. Some, but not all, of these factors may be modifiable or subject to individual or societal interventions, such as cigarette smoking, obesity, vaccination, or chemoprevention.
In many ways, the more difficult part of prevention research is in trying to understand how to intervene. People living in a modern society are subject to the fads, desires, and cultural trends around them, as well as to their own desires, appetites, and habits. Research in this field clearly involves psychology, sociology, and behavioral science, but even genetics can play a role, as people may differ, for example, in their predisposition to nicotine addiction. But ultimately, the implementation of cancer prevention and control measures in the real world is where all the research is really put to its toughest test.
In a free society, the question as to how far the government should go in restricting our behaviors for public health purposes is a controversial one, open to serious debate among reasonable people. Three years ago, when Michael Bloomberg became Mayor of New York City, he appointed Dr.Tom Frieden as Commissioner of Health and the two immediately embarked on a very aggressive public anti-smoking campaign.
The resulting brouhaha in New York City made headlines both locally and nationally, but the results on tobacco usage have been dramatic. Read about it in this issue of our newsletter.
The Editors
Andrew J. Dannenberg, MD
Henry R. Erle, MD
Roberts Family Professor of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Co-Director
Cancer Prevention Program
Columbia Weill Cornell Cancer Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Alfred I. Neugut, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
Head of Cancer Prevention
Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Mailman School of Public Health
Co-Director
Cancer Prevention Program
Columbia Weill Cornell Cancer Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
