Breast Cancer Treatment History Events

1749
to 1806
Benjamin Bell and Jean Louis Petit are the First to Remove the Affected Breast Tissue and Underlying Chest Muscles in Breast Cancer Patients
Then in 1749-1806 the Scottish surgeon Benjamin Bell and the French surgeon Jean Louis Petit were the first one to remove the affected breast tissue, and underlying chest muscle.
1862 Edwin Smith Buys the Edwin Smith Papyrus, the World's Oldest Surgical Documentation
The earliest known medical document known to man is what is known as the Edwin Smith Papyrus. Edwin Smith was an Egyptologist who bought fragments of the document in London in 1862. Alt...
1882 Dr. William Steward Halsted Performs the First Mastectomy
Dr. William Steward Halsted was the first to remove a breast in 1882 in the effort to overcome the disease. From 1895 to 1970's 90% of women treated for breast cancer underwent mastectomi...
1952 The American Cancer Society Founds "Reach to Recovery" to Promote Breast Cancer Treatment and Advocacy
Although doctors have been fighting breast cancer for centuries, it was not until the 20th century that movements to increase breast cancer awareness as well as cancer awareness in genera...
1959 Mar 9 FDA Approves Immunex's Thiotepa
Why would this drug be used? Thiotepa is used to treat lymphoma and cancers of the breast, ovary, bladder, and other cancer types. It may also be used to control the fluid that can b...
1977 Dec 30 FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Nolvadex
NOLVADEX is effective in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in women and men. In premenopausal women with metastatic breast cancer, NOLVADEX is an alternative to oophorectomy or ov...
1991 Jun 28 FDA Approves Pharmacia and UpJohn's Adrucil
Treating symptoms of colon, rectum, breast, stomach, and pancreas cancer. Adrucil is an antimetabolite. It works by interfering with the production of proteins necessary for cell growt...
1992 Dec 29 FDA Approves Bristol Myers Squibb's Taxol
Taxol is one of the newer chemotherapy drugs, and has been around, and in use for some years. It is an extract from the bark and needles of the yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. Taxol is a whit...
1995 Dec 27 FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Arimidex
Arimidex (chemical name: anastrozole) is an aromatase inhibitor approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat: post-menopausal women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-...
1996 May 14 FDA Approves Sanofi Aventis's Taxotere
Drug Type: Taxotere is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug. Taxotere is classified as a "plant alkaloid," a "taxane" and an "antimicrotubule agent." (F...
1996 May 15 FDA Approves Lilly's Gemzar
Gemzar is indicated in combination with cisplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with inoperable, locally advanced (Stage IIIA or IIIB) or metastatic (Stage IV) non-small cell l...
1997 May 29 FDA Approves GTx's Fareston
Fareston is a novel SERM - Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (anti estrogen) that is supposedly more powerful than Nolvadex and may have less side effects than other anti estrogens....
1997 Jul 25 FDA Approves Novartis's Femara
This medication is used to treat certain types of breast cancer (such as hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer) in women after menopause. Letrozole is also used to help prevent the canc...
1997 Dec 9 FDA Approves Lilly's Evista
Evista affects the cycle of bone formation and breakdown in the body, and reduces loss of bone tissue. Evista is used to treat or prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. It is al...
1998 Apr 30 FDA Approves Bedford's Adriamycin
Adriamycin is a chemotherapy drug that is administered for the treatment of several types of cancer, including multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, breast cancer, leukemia, and lymphomas. It...
1998 Apr 30 FDA Approves Hoffmann La Roche's Xeloda
The panel discussed Xeloda in the treatment of patients with locally-advanced or metastatic breast cancer following failure of Bristol-Myers Squibb's Taxol (paclitaxel) and an anthracycli...
1998 Sep 25 FDA Approves Genentech's Herceptin
Some breast cancer cells make (overexpress) too many copies of a particular gene known as HER2. The HER2 gene makes a protein known as a HER2 receptor. HER2 receptors are like ears, or an...
1999 Sep 15 FDA Approves Pfizer's Ellence
Ellence is a cancer medication that interferes with the growth of cancer cells and slows their growth and spread in the body. The exact way it works is not fully understood. Ellence is...
1999 Oct 21 FDA Approves Pharmacia and UpJohn's Aromasin
Aromasin (Exemestane) is a steroidal suicide aromatase inhibitor, which means that it lowers estrogen production in the body by blocking the aromatase enzyme, the enzyme responsible for e...
2001 Mar 21 FDA Approves BARR's Trexall
Treating certain types of cancer, severe psoriasis, or rheumatoid arthritis in certain patients. It may be used alone or with other medicines. It may also be used for other conditions as ...
2002 Apr 25 FDA Approves AstraZeneca's Faslodex
Faslodex® (fulvestrant) is an oestrogen receptor antagonist, indicated for the treatment of postmenopausal women with oestrogen receptor-positive, locally advanced or metastatic breast ca...
2004 Feb 26 FDA Approves Genentech's Avastin
Avastin is a cancer medicine that interferes with the growth of cancer cells by blocking the formation and growth of new blood vessels in the tumor which slows their growth. Avastin is...
2005 Jan 7 FDA Approves Abraxis's Abraxane
Abraxane® is a chemotherapy drug indicated for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, in particular patients for whom previous forms of chemotherapy treatment have proven unsuccessful...
2007 Mar 13 FDA Approves GlaxoSmithKline's Tykerb
GlaxoSmithKline plc [NYSE: GSK, LSE: GSK] announced today that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved TYKERB® (lapatinib), in combination with Xeloda® (capecitabine...
2007 Oct 16 FDA Approves Bristol-Myers Squibb's Ixempra
Ixempra gained FDA approval as a stand-alone treatment for patients who've failed other chemotherapy and for use with Roche's Xeloda in patients whose cancer has spread. Ixempra is a micr...
2010 Jun 8 Ohio State University Study Finds Stress Reduction Aids Survival in Recurrent Breast Cancer
A relaxation programme cut the risk of death by more than half, researchers found. They believe that the findings show the impact of stress on cancer has been underestimated. "We're fin...
2010 Jun 13 Blood Pressure Drugs Linked to Increased Risk of Cancer
A blood pressure drug used by millions of adults could be increasing their risk of cancer, a study has revealed. The use of ARB drugs to treat hypertension is associated with a 'modestly...