CEO 25 Years of Progress
Advances in the Fight Against Breast Cancer Have Been Steady
25 YEARS OF PROGRESS 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
The past 25 years have seen great progress and many achievements in the diagnosing, treating and prevention of breast cancer. To really appreciate the advances that have been made thus far, consider the situation 35 years ago. In 1974, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer was around 75 percent. There was only one acceptable surgical option, a mastectomy, for the treatment of breast cancer. And the use of multiple drugs during chemotherapy was only just beginning.
Today, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer is almost 90 percent. If the breast cancer is localized and hasn’t spread from its site of origin, the five-year survival rate is 98 percent!
Instead of a mastectomy, which removes the entire breast, a lumpectomy, in which only the tumor and some surrounding tissue is removed, is now the preferred treatment option for women in the early stages of breast cancer. And the use of multiple drugs during chemotherapy has become the standard treatment method.
Thanks to ongoing research, the mortality rate for breast cancer has dropped an average of 3.2 percent each year since 1995. Here are a few of the many advances made in the fight against breast cancer during the past three decades.
Early 1980s: Screening mammograms begin. For the first time, mammograms are used to check for breast cancer without any signs or symptoms. Previously, mammograms had been used strictly as a diagnostic tool, to analyze a lump or other condition that had already been found. In addition, the use of ultrasound continues to help more and more physicians as a valuable diagnostic tool.
1985: The lumpectomy, combined with radiation therapy, is determined to be as effective as a mastectomy.
Early 1990s: Digital mammography is introduced, offering more detailed images and a more precise diagnosis. This new technology is especially helpful for detecting breast cancer in women who are under 50 or who have dense breast tissue.
Late 1990s: Scientists confirm that certain variations in two genes cause up to an 80 percent increase in risk.2007: For the first time, the American Cancer Society recommends that women with a high risk for breast cancer have an annual MRI, in addition to a mammogram.
Tomorrow: More and more research is being conducted on the relationship between genes and breast cancer. Three-dimensional mammograms will soon offer even more detailed images to help diagnose breast cancer in its earlier stages.
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