History of the Most Prevalent Cancers: Breast & Prostrate

[Crab Fact Box: Did you know the term “carcinoma”, which describes invasive tumors, comes from the Ancient Greek word karkinos, meaning crab?² Now, back to where we left off!]

In the 1600s, there was a predominant lymphatic system theory that assumed breast cancer was caused by a break in the harmony of the body’s chemistry, and that the body’s lymph would become “acidic base”.² Eventually, as the science behind technology and medicine improved, we formulated theories closer to our modern ones.² In the 1800s, Johannes Müller and Rudolph Virchow suggested cell-based theories, hypothesizing that cancer arose from healthy tissue and that cancer itself was made up of cells.² The 1900s then established breast cancer “as a major public health issue”.² This is also the era when the genetic and molecular characteristics of breast cancer started to be discovered.²

Another essential happening in 1900s was the improvement of detection strategies: the invention of mammography.² Mammography, an imaging method making use of X-rays, has saved a lot of lives as it reduces the risk of death from breast cancer by allowing its detection before its symptoms begin showing.³ Albert Solomon was the first scientist to use this technique to understand breast cancer.³ Even though this progress was stalled by the First World War, studies into breast oncology continued into 1930, emphasizing the importance of this technology.³ Following research from the 1950s and onwards, an era of better and improved mammography techniques began with newer and more accurate ways to image.³ Specialized devices for mammography ended up becoming mandatory for hospitals to use.³

How about prostate cancer? The discovery of prostate cancer contains somewhat contradicting information. It was apparently discovered in a hospital by a British surgeon named J. Adams. ⁴ However, it is also stated that this was the first histological confirmation of prostate cancer, and that it was first described by the German S. Beiling, followed by the French Stanislas Tanchou. ⁵ The discovery of prostate cancer is a lot newer than breast cancer, but the significance is equal. In the past, prostate cancer was only detected at very late stages, causing it to have a definitive lethal result after diagnosis. ⁴ This practice continued until Charles Huggins proposed the “first systemic effective therapy,” which is the use of oral estrogens to destroy androgens. ⁴

[Crab Fact Box: Why do you think prostate cancer quickly became the most prevalent cancer in men from being a rare disorder? ⁴ The increase in cancer screening! Of course, there are many reasons why prostate cancer cases have gone up. Some include extended lifetime (since prostate cancer is known to have increased risk with age) and environmental conditions such as the “Western” lifestyle and diet. ⁴ Still, the ability to identify prostate cancer apart from other diseases allowed for its definite detection. ⁴]

The history of screening for prostate cancer began in 1938 with the discovery of prostate-specific acid phosphatase. ⁵ Unfortunately, this was only effective in cancer cases that spread to other sites outside the prostate.⁵ However, this was the beginning of biomarkers that could help screen for prostate cancer. In 1979, Ming Chang Wang found the prostate-specific antigen, which other researchers identified to be a biomarker. ⁵ In 1980s to 1990s, this was used to understand the patient’s response to therapy but later became a method of detecting prostate cancer itself. ⁵ Following this achievement, other methods such as biopsies and imaging like MRI were developed. ⁵

Overall, despite both being commonly occurring cancers, the story behind both their discoveries is interestingly different. This article was just a glimpse into the beginning of the story that continues today with the constant efforts of scientists to discover strategies to fight against cancer.