Breast Cancer A Common Disease - 1910 Words

Cancer is a common disease in today’s society, more specifically breast cancer. We see people with little pink ribbons or a dedicated shirts to it on the street, stickers on cars, we even have a whole month dedicated to raise awareness about it, but what really is breast cancer? How long has it been around? How does it affect its victim? Breast cancer is not a modern discovery and has been documented since ancient times, in almost every period of history. Unlike internal cancers, breast cancer is not as difficult to identify since the breast lumps turn into visible tumors in later stages. Even though breast cancer is more easily identified, it was left unmentioned and was considered an embarrassment therefore it was left undiagnosed. Only†¦show more content†¦Surgery was never suggested because at this time breast cancer was a disease that affected the whole body. Galen’s theories on breast cancer were believed until the 17th century when a French physician, Francois de la Boe Sylvius, challenged the humoral theory of cancer. In 1680, Sylvius suggested that cancer did not come from an excess of black bile, but rather was a chemical process that transformed lymphatic fluids from acidic to acrid. In 1713 Bernardino Ramazzini’s hypothesized that breast cancer was so regular in nuns was because of lack of sex. Ramazzini’s said that without regular sexual activities reproductive organs, such as the breasts, would start to decay and acquire cancer. Later on Friedrich Hoffman of Prussia suggested that woman who have regular sex but still developed breast cancer were partaking in vigorous sex, therefore causing lymphatic block. In the 1730’s Clause-Desphais Gendron, a Paris physician, hypothesized cancer was developed when nerve and glandular tissue mixed with lymph vessels. Twenty years later it was suggested by leading French physician Henri Le Dran, to surgically remove the tumor and the infected lymph nodes of the armpit as treatment. Cluade-Nicolas Le Cat thought the only way to treat breast cancer was surgically. This view was held until the twentieth century and led to radical mastectomy, the extensive removal of the breast. Surgery was an available treatment option for breast cancer by the