After being diagnosed with breast cancer, medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris reflects on how the pain and suffering of generations of women helped lead to today’s treatments
Later, with the dawn of anesthesia, pain was no longer a check upon the surgeon’s knife. As a result, breast operations became steadily more invasive. Initially, this had its own dire impact on mortality rates because surgeons did not yet understand germ theory. In the mid-19th century, the French surgeon Alfred Armand Velpeau recommended the removal of both the breast and a portion of the underlying chest muscles.
The discovery of X-rays by William Roentgen in 1895 made it possible to treat cancer with radiotherapy, using concentrated doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Today, as I was surprised to learn, lumpectomies paired with radiotherapy typically offer better long-term survival rates for early-stage breast cancer patients than the traditional mastectomy.
As I wait for the next stage of my treatment to begin—which may involve chemotherapy, radiotherapy or a combination of both—I’m looking to the future. What will a breast cancer diagnosis mean for people in 20, 50 or 100 years’ time? My surgeon, Dr. Paul Thiruchelvam at Imperial College and King Edward VII Hospital in London, has some thoughts.Thomas Angus/Imperial College London
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