Medicine has changed greatly since the ancient Egyptians, when the first cases of breast cancer were documented.
The text describes the condition as untreatable.
He also observed the “crab-like” appearance of tumors with dark-colored veins.
Verywell / Jessica Olah
Who was the first person with breast cancer?
There is no way to determine when the first known case of breast cancer occurred.
Breast cancer and other cancers are likely as ancient as humanity.
Large modern studies have proven these theories wrong.
While disfiguring, this surgery was the most effective treatment for breast cancer for decades to come.
Robert Egan, University of Texas: In 1962, Egan showedmammogramscould detect undiscovered cancers and other breast tumors.
Elwood Jensen, University of Cincinnati: In 1967, Jensen first described findingestrogen and progesterone receptorsin breast cancers.
These receptors communicate with the bodys hormones and help the cancers grow.
The discovery of drugs that block these hormones or their receptors revolutionized breast cancer treatment.
A research team led by Walpole developed the drug as a breast cancer treatment.
Robert Weinberg Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: This team discovered theHER2 genein the early 1980s.
Understanding the genetics of any given tumor has helped doctors treat individual patients in personalized ways.
It scientifically compared different treatments for breast cancer.
Her work on hereditary breast cancers reinforced the importance of genetics in cancer development.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 were cloned by a team led by Mark Skolnick at Myriad Genetics in the mid-1990s.
Other notable chemotherapies include paclitaxel, released in 1994, andXeloda (capecitabine), released in 1998.
How has breast cancer treatment evolved?
Starting around the 1930s, radiation was developed as a breast cancer treatment.
Surgery
The 1980s saw improvements in surgery options for people with breast cancer.
In 1985, surgeons developed breast-conserving surgery, also called alumpectomy.
Instead of removing the entire breast, the lumpectomy aims to remove just the cancerous tissue.
Its often used alongside radiation and chemotherapies with similar rates of overall and disease-free survival.
When was the first mastectomy?
Biologics and Targeted Therapy
During the 1990s,biologicsfor breast cancer entered the treatment scene.
These drugs are actually antibodies, very similar to the antibodies your immune system makes naturally.
In 2019 a new therapy targeted against the PIK3CA mutation was approved by the FDA.
Another new target for breast cancer therapies is cyclin-dependent kinases.
These are important for cell growth, so inhibiting them can slow the progression of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancers.
By analyzing the genetic attributes of a persons cancer, doctors can separate patients into multiple breast cancer subtypes.
For example, for hormone therapy to work, the cancer cells need to be hormone receptor-positive.
For HER2-targeted therapies to work, the patients cancer needs to be expressing higher-than-normal levels of the HER2 protein.
Breast cancer rates have also been rising in Asian American females for multiple decades.
Researchers estimate that one in 40 individuals in this population carries a BRCA mutation.
The medical community has also been learning more about males who get breast cancer.
Males with the BRCA mutations are at a higher risk of developing breast and several other cancers.
Having a family history of breast cancer means some of your blood relatives have had breast cancer.
Summary
Breast cancer has a long and winding history.
Ancient Egyptians documented the condition, but it was considered incurable.
Surgery was developed as a treatment during the 1700s and refined in the late 1800s.
During the 1930s and following decades, radiation therapy and chemotherapy were developed, along with diagnostic techniques.
Major advancements have disrupted how we manage and treat this cancer over the last several decades.
These include hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, and genetic profiling.
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