First Printing: Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers, 1985
Second Printing: Authors Choice Press (iuniverse inc.), 2011

Although written in the mid-'80s and out of print for some time, the first edition of Behavior and Cancer remained relevant to the present day. But copies were increasingly hard to come by — you could find some in very limited quantities at Amazon and Barnes & Noble; see links under Click to Purchase). I am happy to report that the book is now in its second printing, and you can order a copy of the second edition too.

Here's the text from the back cover (which you can see for yourself by clicking here):

Many books and articles focus only on selected aspects of behavior on cancer (for example, the effects of smoking on lung cancer risk). But this book offers a comprehensive and in-depth examination of a broad range of behavioral factors as direct and indirect contributors to cancer risk.

Levy examines the behavioral factors that affect everything from the likelihood of getting cancer to the effectiveness of treatments for it. She summarizes evidence correlating factors such as exposure to sunlight with cancer incidence, describes the biology of malignant tumors, rates the efficacy of various screening technologies, and discusses the implications of factors such as patient compliance for treatment success.

Levy gives instruction on effective intervention techniques for discouraging cancer-causing behavior, outlines the role clinicians can play in uncovering occupational carcinogens in their patients’ work environments, identifies the high-risk groups for various types of cancer, and recommends ways to make screening programs more accessible to them. She provides guidelines for enhancing patient compliance, shows how stress and other psychological states can affect cancer growth, and uses this information to make recommendations for improved psychotherapeutic techniques.

Although this book was written in the mid-'80s, much of the evidence linking behavior factors and cancer as a multiple disease process — particularly lifestyle factors such as sun screen and tobacco use, as well as compliance factors contributing to risk in cancer treatment outcome — still holds.

Other books and articles I have published on the general topic of behavioral medicine and cancer can be found by clicking on Publications in the page menu.