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Precautionary tales: Exploring the obstacles to debating the primary prevention of breast cancer

York St John University, l.potts{at}yorksj.ac.uk

Rachael Dixey

Leeds Metropolitan University

Sarah Nettleton

York University

Incidence of breast cancer is rising globally, with little attention paid by government health planners to upstream causal factors. The research reported here used qualitative methods to explore the usefulness of creating opportunities for dialogue between various `communities of interest' - laypeople, health activists, environmentalists, scientists, health professionals and politicians - concerned about possible environmental factors in breast cancer aetiology. The paper reports discussion of some of the methodological difficulties in investigating the causes of breast cancer, what constitutes `evidence' and the perceived obstacles to adopting a precautionary approach to the prevention of breast cancer. The key difference between viewpoints concerns the appropriate evidence for - and response to - risk. We have argued that these differences are both ideological and epistemological; we are concerned here to identify how a tripartite categorization of positions is articulated through participants' narrative accounts and arguments about how science contributes to the basis for policy making.

Key Words: aetiology • cancer causation • responses to risk

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