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The Role of Surgery in the Treatment of Breast Cancer: Historical Review and Current Status

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High-Risk Breast Cancer

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Abstract

Some form of surgery has been advocated for treating breast cancer since prehistoric times. The earliest reports advocated no treatment for breast cancer [1]. Surgery was usually combined with local applications of ointments, mysticism, and magic. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus (3600–2500 B.C., reconstructed by J. H. Breasted, the late director of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago [2], describes eight cases of breast tumors. A simple statement is made concerning treatment: “There is no treatment.” This was the first separation of tumors of the breast (cancer) from inflammatory diseases or abscesses. Cauterization, “fine drill,”was used for abscesses, but no treatment whatsoever was advocated for the cancers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Foundation for Clinical Research Inc., 80 East End Avenue, New York, NY, 10028, USA

    I. M. Ariel

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  1. I. M. Ariel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency, 600 West 10th Avenue, V5Z 4E6, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

    Joseph Ragaz MD, FRCP

  2. Foundation for Clinical Research Inc., 80 East End Avenue, 10028, New York, NY, USA

    Irving M. Ariel MD

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Ariel, I.M. (1991). The Role of Surgery in the Treatment of Breast Cancer: Historical Review and Current Status. In: Ragaz, J., Ariel, I.M. (eds) High-Risk Breast Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74728-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74728-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-74730-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-74728-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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