Breast Cancer
1950s: Reach to Recovery
✦Women were ashamed to seek treatment
✦Doctors were reluctant to examine women's breasts
✦If women did seek medical attention, it was too late because the cancer had spread
1970s: The Fight turns Public
✦Breast cancer came into the public in 1974.
✦ Women first started writing about their personal battles.
✦Women's Health Movement:
This was a movement where women were removed from the medical field
and reproductive health care was a huge concern with gynecologists and
obstetricians.
✦Women would go under anesthesia and not know if they would wake up with one breast or even two.
✦There was no staging testing or metastases that could be done with any medical procedure.
✦Women were not provided with an opportunity to reach treatment options.
1980s: Early Victories and New Organizations
✦Prostheses forced women to mourn the loss of her breasts.
✦Breast self-examination touted as the key to early detection of breast cancer.
✦Informed consent practices debated.
✦Activists moved to promote informed consent laws at the state level.
These laws specify that once a woman is diagnosed through a biopsy with breast
cancer, her doctor will provide information on various treatment options and gain
her consent before proceeding.
✦Informed consent legislation was introduced in 22 states and passed in 16.
✦Susan G. Komen foundation established.
✦Lung cancer surpasses breast cancer as the deadliest cancer among women.
✦Look Good...Feel Better program established by the American Cancer Society.
✦Medicare begins to cover mammograms.
✦October becomes the month devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness.
1990s: Coalition-Building
✦BlueCross BlueShield looks at the efficacy of bone marrow transplants to treat breast cancer.
✦Effectiveness of lumpectomy vs. a mastectomy debated.
✦The Federal Government issued mammography standards.
✦First breast cancer gene (BRCA1) is identified.
✦Second breast cancer gene is identified. Blood test developed to detect genetic mutations.
✦Many women with breast cancer joined patient support groups.
This provided much needed information about doctors, treatment options, side effects, and emotional support.
✦The American Cancer Society recommended regular mammograms for women.
✦Breast cancer becomes an international movement.
✦Women were ashamed to seek treatment
✦Doctors were reluctant to examine women's breasts
✦If women did seek medical attention, it was too late because the cancer had spread
1970s: The Fight turns Public
✦Breast cancer came into the public in 1974.
✦ Women first started writing about their personal battles.
✦Women's Health Movement:
This was a movement where women were removed from the medical field
and reproductive health care was a huge concern with gynecologists and
obstetricians.
✦Women would go under anesthesia and not know if they would wake up with one breast or even two.
✦There was no staging testing or metastases that could be done with any medical procedure.
✦Women were not provided with an opportunity to reach treatment options.
1980s: Early Victories and New Organizations
✦Prostheses forced women to mourn the loss of her breasts.
✦Breast self-examination touted as the key to early detection of breast cancer.
✦Informed consent practices debated.
✦Activists moved to promote informed consent laws at the state level.
These laws specify that once a woman is diagnosed through a biopsy with breast
cancer, her doctor will provide information on various treatment options and gain
her consent before proceeding.
✦Informed consent legislation was introduced in 22 states and passed in 16.
✦Susan G. Komen foundation established.
✦Lung cancer surpasses breast cancer as the deadliest cancer among women.
✦Look Good...Feel Better program established by the American Cancer Society.
✦Medicare begins to cover mammograms.
✦October becomes the month devoted to Breast Cancer Awareness.
1990s: Coalition-Building
✦BlueCross BlueShield looks at the efficacy of bone marrow transplants to treat breast cancer.
✦Effectiveness of lumpectomy vs. a mastectomy debated.
✦The Federal Government issued mammography standards.
✦First breast cancer gene (BRCA1) is identified.
✦Second breast cancer gene is identified. Blood test developed to detect genetic mutations.
✦Many women with breast cancer joined patient support groups.
This provided much needed information about doctors, treatment options, side effects, and emotional support.
✦The American Cancer Society recommended regular mammograms for women.
✦Breast cancer becomes an international movement.
Prostate Cancer
1980s: First Awareness Efforts
✦American farmers found to have high rates of prostate cancer.
✦First Awareness Organizations start to develop
✦Radiation exposure linked to prostate cancer in American veterans.
✦PSA blood test developed. Controversy begins.
1990s: Momentum Builds and Advocacy Begins
✦President nominee Bob Dole diagnosed and became perhaps the most famous survivor in the United States.
✦Organizations continue to be created
✦US TOO! International founded.
✦CaP CURE founded; now the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
✦Farming linked to higher prostate cancer rates in African American men.
✦First cancer lobbyists began to work. These were both women.
✦Evidence of a prostate cancer gene discovered.
2000s: Diversifying the Movement
✦Prostate cancer becomes an international movement.
✦Development of various organizations seeking to raise awareness and mobilize the African American community and other underrepresented groups.
✦September becomes the month devoted to Prostate Cancer Awareness.
✦American farmers found to have high rates of prostate cancer.
✦First Awareness Organizations start to develop
✦Radiation exposure linked to prostate cancer in American veterans.
✦PSA blood test developed. Controversy begins.
1990s: Momentum Builds and Advocacy Begins
✦President nominee Bob Dole diagnosed and became perhaps the most famous survivor in the United States.
✦Organizations continue to be created
✦US TOO! International founded.
✦CaP CURE founded; now the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
✦Farming linked to higher prostate cancer rates in African American men.
✦First cancer lobbyists began to work. These were both women.
✦Evidence of a prostate cancer gene discovered.
2000s: Diversifying the Movement
✦Prostate cancer becomes an international movement.
✦Development of various organizations seeking to raise awareness and mobilize the African American community and other underrepresented groups.
✦September becomes the month devoted to Prostate Cancer Awareness.