Sandbox:MGS

Discovery

• The oldest evidence of cancer is discovered in the Egyptian literature and dates back to about 3000 BC. The textbook is called the 'Edwin Smith Papyrus' and describes 8 cases of tumors of the breast that were removed by cauterization with a tool called the fire drill. The writing says about the disease, “There is no treatment.”

Landmark Events in the Development of Treatment Strategies

• In 1761, Giovanni Morgagni of Padua became the first to perform an autopsy to relate the illness to the pathology.
• The Scottish surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793) suggested that cancer could be removed if tumor had not invaded nearby tissue and was 'moveable'.
• In 1700s, John Hunter, the Scottish surgeon suggested that tumors grow from lymph constantly thrown out by the blood.
• In 19th century, Rudolf Virchow became the first to correlate the illness to microscopic pathology.
• Zacutus Lusitani (1575-1642) and Nicholas Tulp (1593-1674), 2 doctors in Holland, publicized their work in 1649 and 1652 respectively that concluded that breast cancer was contagious based on their observation of the tumor in the members of the same household.
• In the 1990s, BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were associated with development of breast cancer for first time.
• In 1713, Bernardino Ramazzini, an Italian doctor, reported the relatively high incidence of breast cancer in nuns. This observation made it a clear association between breast cancer and role of hormones.
• In late 1960s, modern mammography methods were developed.
• In 1976, mammography became officially recommended by the American cancer society.
• In the last decade of the 19th century, William Stewart Halsted, professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University, came up with the radical mastectomy procedure.
• In 1719, Lorenz Heister, a German surgeon wrote about his ideas for mastectomy and lumpectomy in his book, Chirurgie.
• In 1896, Thomas Beatson, a graduate from the University of Edinburgh, described the relationship between oophorectomy and breast cancer. This study laid down the foundation of the hormonal therapy of the breast cancer.
• In the 1970s, modern clinical trials demonstrated that less extensive surgery is equally effective for most women with breast cancer.
• During the final decades of the 20th century, technices were developed to minimizing the amount of normal tissue removed along with the tumor.
• In late 1990s, first therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, trastuzumab (Herceptin) was approved for breast cancer.