Susan M. Love

Susan M. Love (born 1948), believes that too many women fall victim to breast cancer each year and that they are losing control over their condition due to the male-centered medical community.

A leading authority in her field, Love was director (1992-1996) of the REVLON/UCLA Breast Center at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center), a haven for patients who came for consultation and treatment of the disease that ranks second only to lung cancer as America's leading killer of women. Love is also the co-author of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, a straightforward, no-nonsense, and non-technical look at the hows and whys of breast diseases.

"What drives Love in all this is more than a sense of urgency--she also has profound hope, believing that given adequate funds and intelligent research priorities, the fight against breast cancer can be won, and soon," commented Beth Horner in Technology Review. In an interview with Love, Horner noted that advice given to women about mammograms seems to change almost yearly. "The basic problem," replied Love, "is that no one quite understands the disease yet. We're just beginning to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, and as we do, doctors naturally find themselves reevaluating some of their recommendations."

But Love is certain of one thing: "Breast cancer does send incredible fear through women's hearts, but I don't think that's because it's had too much publicity. I don't even think it's entirely because breast cancer can be fatal." What keeps women fearful--even of examinations--is the prospect of a mastectomy, the removal of one or both breasts. "The breast," Love explained, "has some special psychological baggage--for one thing, there are all the associations of breastfeeding and nurturing the next generation. Then, too, the breast is the most obvious identifying feature of femaleness."

Another problem is that the doctor recommending treatment is invariably male. "Even when the patient has got over the shock of diagnosis, doctors can make it hard for her to come to a good, clear-headed decision about what kind of surgery she wants," Love told Horner. "They'll say things like, `Well, you're elderly and you're widowed--you don't need your breast anymore. Why don't you just have a mastectomy? It'll be easier.' In my experience, though, older women aren't any more likely than younger ones to want a mastectomy."

Love has come by her insight as both a doctor and a woman. Ironically, the specialty she ended up with was not her first choice. In fact, "when Love became the first female general surgeon on staff at Boston's prestigious Beth Israel Hospital in 1980," Elizabeth Gleick stated in a People article, "she swore that she would not allow herself to get pigeonholed into women's medicine. `I am not going to let them turn me into a breast surgeon,' she remembers thinking of her fellow doctors."

But the very fact that Love was a female surgeon in a medical field dominated by men led breast cancer patients to seek her out. As Love related in her book: "For any other form of surgery, they might have chosen, even preferred, a male doctor--but for breasts, they wanted someone they instinctively felt would understand their bodies and respect the particular meaning their breasts had for them. I soon realized that I could make a particular contribution in this area: I could combine my experience as a woman with my medical knowledge. I decided to specialize in breast problems."

In 1987 Love was appointed assistant clinical professor in surgery at Harvard Medical School; a year later she founded the Faulkner Breast Center, employing additional women as surgeons, oncologists, nurse specialists, radiologists, and more. Combining research with her political agenda, Love in 1990 co-founded the National Breast Center Coalition, an advocacy group dedicated to awareness of, and funding for, women's health issues.

With the publication of her book and the opening of the UCLA center, Love became a widely sought-out figure. In People she detailed a schedule of surgery twice a week, lecturing to women's groups, and the frequent trips from her home base in California to Washington, D.C., to meet with then U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. Spare time is spent with the family--daughter Katie and Love's companion, Helen Cooksey, herself a surgeon. Love, who has made no secret of her sexual orientation, drew headlines in 1993 when Katie, born to Love of donated sperm, was jointly adopted by the two women--a groundbreaking custody case ensuring the pair will share full parental responsibility. They continue to live together as a family in Pacific Palisades, California.

Having worked so extensively in the name of women's health, Love has some words of encouragement for those who have--or fear getting--breast cancer. "The first message I try to get across is that a diagnosis of breast cancer is not an emergency," she told Technology Review. "The typical notion is that you're a time bomb and the cancer is going to take over your body unless you do something tomorrow. Well, that's just not true. By the time they're diagnosed, most breast cancers have been around for years, which means it's unlikely that anything too dramatic will happen right away. You really do have a few weeks to research the subject, get second opinions, sort out your feelings and so on. I also think it's vital to treat women like intelligent human beings who are capable of all that."

In recent years, Love has founded the wildly popular web site SusanLoveMD.com. In 1995 she became director of research for the Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Foundation (formerly the Santa Barbara Breast Cancer Institute) and in 1996 she became its medical director as well. The web site, which is now officially part of the Breast Cancer Foundation, serves to disseminate information about the disease and act as a reference source and meeting point. Love is also closely involved in the development and operations of a multimedia women's health content company called LLuminarism.

In April 1996 Love announced her resignation from the UCLA Breast Center and accepted a position as professor of surgery at UCLA. She also published another book on women's health: Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices about Menopause (1996). Karen Stabiner's book, To Dance with the Devil: The New War on Breast Cancer, is an account of Love's experiences as a female surgeon and fighter against the disease.

Love is now retired from surgery, although she is currently an adjunct professor of clinical surgery at UCLA Medical School. There she continues her research through a Defense Department grant. This research, based on developing an intraductal approach to breast cancer, led her to co-found a medical device company called Windy Hill Technologies in 1998. This became Pro-Duct Health, Inc. in 2000; she serves as its consultant and director.

Further Reading

• Love, Susan, Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book, Addison-Wesley, 1990.
• Love, Susan, Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book: Making Informed Choices about Menopause, 1997.
• Stabiner, Karen, To Dance with the Devil: The New War on Breast Cancer, New York : Delacorte Press, 1997.
• People, July 25, 1994, p. 147.
• Technology Review, May 1993, p. 45.
• The Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Foundation, "About the Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Foundation," at: http://www.susanlovemdfoundation.org/about.html (October 6, 2001).
• SusanLoveMD.com, "About Us: Susan M. Love, MD," at: http://www.susanlovemd.com/about_frames.html (October 6, 2001).
• Pro-Duct Health, Inc., "About Pro-Duct Health," at: http://www.ductallavage.com/about/about.cfm (October 6, 2001).