One out of nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. For too long, women have erroneously believed that there is little or nothing they can do to prevent this dread illness. Our major medical efforts are directed toward detecting and treating, rather than preventing, breast cancer.

Professor Jane Plant, one of Britain's most eminent scientists, contracted breast cancer in 1987. When orthodox medicine gave up and she was told she had only three months to live, she used her extensive scientific training and her knowledge of other cultures to find a...