A look back at breast cancer 40 years ago
By Sheryl
May 3, 2010
This morning as I gently woke up from a restful night’s sleep, coaxed into awareness by my clock radio, I heard something astounding. Today, May 3, 2010, is the 40-year anniversary of the shootings at Kent State. I was 15 when the National Guard opened fire on anti-war demonstrators on the Ohio campus. Over a period of just 13 seconds, four students were killed and nine were wounded. It is a moment that stunned me and everyone else. It told me that things were not as they seemed. It told me that the world was not safe. It reminded me that things can happen – things we don’t plan on.
Where does 40 years go? How does time pass so quickly? And how much did we really know about breast cancer 40 years ago? How much did I, as a 15-year-old female, know?
The simple answer is a lot less than any of us know today.
| No longer do women at risk for breast cancer have to sit idly by and wait for a diagnosis. Today, drugs like tamoxifen and evista can cut cancer risk. |
In the 1970s, the chance of surviving for five years after a diagnosis was approximately 70 percent; today the survival rate has risen to over 90 percent.
Prior to the 70s, many women hid behind their diagnosis; some did not even try to seek treatment, thinking there were no effective treatments available. Finally in the 70s, the first wave of breast cancer advocacy took root. Books like Our Bodies, Ourselves put women in touch with their health and sexuality. First Lady Betty Ford announced her diagnosis in 1974, making women more comfortable with their own diagnoses. Women gained enough self-confidence to take charge and become proactive about their bodies and their disease. They were no longer merely victims and puppets of their physicians. They began to realize that they had a shared responsibility and a real voice in treatment.
In 1970, a biopsy was not the procedure it is today. Women remained on the operating table as the lump was examined; if it was cancer, an immediate mastectomy was done. Many women went in not knowing the final outcome, without being given a chance to absorb the news and make decisions and exercise choices. Today a biopsy is just a first step to discovering what’s ahead. Women have time to explore second opinions, medical literature and choices which include much less invasive, breast-sparing techniques. On the horizon is a blood test that may indicate that women have breast cancer as many as 17 months before women are actually diagnosed with the disease.
In the 70s, only 7 drugs were approved by FDA to treat breast cancer. That number, in the 1990s had risen to 25, with more being discovered each day.
Today’s radiation therapy is much more targeted and precise than it was in the 70s, when it was more likely to damage nearby tissue or organs, like the lungs. Likewise, chemotherapy is easier to tolerate, with advances in both its toxic side effects and the ensuing nausea. No longer is the most aggressive treatment necessarily the best treatment; instead, treatments are being developed that selectively attack the cancer while attempting to minimize the damage to other parts of the body.
A woman with breast cancer was always cautioned against pregnancy. Now, research is suggesting that pregnancy has no negative effect on the future survival of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
No longer do women at risk for breast cancer have to sit idly by and wait for a diagnosis. Today, drugs like tamoxifen and evista can cut cancer risk.
And what about things like lifestyle?
- Beans, which contain protease inhibitors, may help protect against breast cancer and may play a role in stabilizing female hormones; lentils may have some protective effects against breast cancer, as well.
- Research shows that lycopene – the nutrient in tomatoes, watermelon, red grapefruit and red navel oranges – may protect against breast cancer.
- Vitamin D may help reduce the risk of breast cancer
- Berries like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cranberries may protect your body with their powerful anti-cancer nutrients called anthocyans (which are thought to play a role in cell repair).
- Vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower may play big roles in preventing breast cancer and significantly reduce its recurrence
It’s been a long while since that sad day at Kent State.
And 40 years from now, when we look back at breast cancer — what we know, thought we knew, and what we’ve learned — who knows how far we will have come from where we are today?
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