10 Notable Moments in Breast Cancer History
Our understanding of breast cancer has evolved significantly since it was first documented nearly 5,000 years ago. Explore some of the many milestones in the history of breast cancer research and treatment.
People have known about breast cancer for centuries—maybe longer—with mentions of it dating as far back as ancient Greece and Egypt.1 As our knowledge of cancer has expanded over time, so has our approach to diagnosing and treating it. Here are just a few milestones in the history of breast cancer.
Circa 3000–2500 B.C.E.: Breast cancer is first documented in ancient Egypt.
The first documented mention of breast cancer appears in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian medical text named after the antique collector who purchased it in 1862. The papyrus, which dates back to circa 1600 B.C.E. but is believed to be a copy of a text from 3,000–2,500 B.C.E., appears to be a guidebook for military surgery, providing various examples of injuries and how to treat them. Several of those examples involve tumors on the breast and provide instructions on how to cauterize them.2 This discovery demonstrated one of the earliest instances of breast cancer treatment in medical documents.
1882: William Halsted performs the first radical mastectomy.
Dr. William Halsted first successfully performed the radical mastectomy, which involves removing the breast and surrounding chest muscle, at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1882.3 While the surgery was highly effective at removing tumors and significantly increased the life expectancy of people with breast cancer, it was also an extremely invasive procedure that often left permanent damage and chronic pain. Even so, the radical mastectomy was seen as the best way to treat breast cancer far into the 20th century, when less invasive surgeries became the norm instead.
1895: Wilhelm Röntgen takes the first X-ray.
German physics professor Dr. Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays and demonstrated how they work by taking an X-ray photo of his wife’s hand, eventually winning a Nobel Prize in 1901 for his discovery.4 This launched widespread research into how X-rays could be used to look inside the human body without ever making an incision. Though Röntgen didn’t make his discovery with cancer in mind, his breakthrough allowed future physicians to develop the mammogram, a major step forward for detecting breast cancer.
1937: Geoffrey Keynes uses breast-sparing surgery and radiation to treat breast cancer.
Working in a hospital in London, British surgeon Sir Geoffrey Keynes’ experiments revealed that inserting radium-containing needles into a breast cancer tumor caused it to shrink.5 With that in mind, he suggested that people with breast cancer might not always need surgery as extensive as the radical mastectomy. Though it took decades for the idea to really spread within the medical community, the combination of limited surgeries (like lumpectomies) and radiation now serves as a primary treatment for breast cancer, focusing on the tumor and often reducing the damage done to the breast itself.
Learn about researchers studying breast cancer treatment.
1941: Charles B. Huggins connects hormones to cancer.
Canadian researcher Dr. Charles B. Huggins first made strides in cancer research in 1941 when he discovered that lowering testosterone production or increasing estrogen production caused prostate tumors to regress.6 In the 1950s and 1960s, he researched the effect of hormones on breast cancer and found that the reverse was true: Mammary tumors use estrogen to grow and can be reduced by lowering estrogen production or—in some cases—increasing androgen production.7 Dr. Huggins’ discoveries led to the development of hormonal therapy as a treatment for breast cancer, which is still used today.
1951: Jane C. Wright researches the effectiveness of methotrexate in shrinking tumors.
Physician, surgeon, and ASCO co-founder Dr. Jane Wright studied the impact of methotrexate, an antimetabolite drug commonly administered in chemotherapy regimens, on cancerous tissue in both breast and skin cancer cases, discovering that it was an effective tool in shrinking tumors.8 Today, methotrexate is used to treat a wide range of cancers through chemotherapy. At the time of Dr. Wright’s research, chemotherapy was widely considered an experimental treatment for cancer, and her discovery helped physicians see it as the effective option it is today.
1966: Philip Strax researches the impact of mammograms on breast cancer treatment.
In 1963, radiologist Dr. Philip Strax began a clinical trial that evaluated the effectiveness of mammograms and breast examinations on cancer detection rates. The findings of this research were published in 1966 in the Journal of the American Medical Association and revealed that mammograms help detect breast cancer earlier.9 Strax’s findings led to the adoption of mammograms as a key aspect of breast cancer detection. Today, they are recommended annually for women over the age of 40 and others with high risk factors.10
1978: The first selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) is approved for breast cancer treatment.
In 1978, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the antiestrogen drug tamoxifen for use in treating breast cancer.5 Originally developed as a birth control method, tamoxifen prevents cancer cells from absorbing estrogen, which in turn prevents them from growing. Tamoxifen and other SERMs are still widely used today in breast cancer treatment, and they are currently being studied to determine if they could be used to treat other conditions.
1980s–1990s: Researchers clone the HER2, BRCA1, and BRCA2 genes.
Scientists made great strides in understanding the role of genetics in cancer over the 1980s and 1990s. The HER2 gene, discovered in 1984 and cloned for the first time in 1986, is associated with more aggressive forms of breast cancer. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were first cloned in 1994 and 1995, respectively, and mutations in both are associated with a greater risk of breast and ovarian cancers.5 By cloning these genes, researchers were able to more easily study them, furthering both our understanding of why cancer forms and how to best treat and prevent it.
2006: The NCI studies tamoxifen and raloxifene as breast cancer prevention medications.
In 2006, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) completed a study comparing the antiestrogen drugs tamoxifen and raloxifene for their effectiveness in preventing breast cancer. The study revealed that raloxifene, another SERM, can be taken by postmenopausal women to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer while also avoiding tamoxifen’s side effects, which include fatigue, nausea, and hot flashes.5 This not only helped researchers better understand how to support people with a higher genetic risk of developing breast cancer, but also introduced additional options to prevent breast cancer, as raloxifene typically comes with fewer serious side effects than tamoxifen.
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References
1. An Early History of Human Breast Cancer: West Meets East https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3845566/
2. Cancer as Ancient Egyptians Knew and Understood It https://cancerhistoryproject.com/article/cancer-as-ancient-egyptians-knew-and-understood-it/
3. Evolution of Radical Mastectomy for Breast Cancer https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4863512/
4. Discovery of the X-Ray: A New Kind of Invisible Light https://medicalmuseum.health.mil/index.cfm?p=visit.exhibits.virtual.xraydiscovery.index
5. Milestones in Cancer Research and Discovery https://www.cancer.gov/research/progress/250-years-milestones
6. Charles Huggins, MD https://www.cdnmedhall.ca/laureates/charleshuggins
7. Charles Brenton Huggins: A Historical Review of the Nobel Laureate’s Pioneering Discoveries https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.35173
8. Dr. Jane C. Wright’s Powerful Legacy of Firsts https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/blog/dr-jane-c-wrights-powerful-legacy-of-firsts/
9. Evaluation of Periodic Breast Cancer Screening With Mammography: Methodology and Early Observations https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/658376
10. American Cancer Society Recommendations for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/screening-tests-and-early-detection/american-cancer-society-recommendations-for-the-early-detection-of-breast-cancer.html