7 Breast Cancer Research Success Stories

For American women, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers, with 1 in 8 developing it in their lifetime. However, largely due to research discoveries, breast cancer in women declined in the early 2000s – after increasing for years. In addition, more women who do get breast cancer are now surviving it.

As the largest non-governmental funder of cancer research in the United States, the American Cancer Society (ACS) has played a role in nearly every major breast cancer research breakthrough in recent history. These include establishing mammography as the standard for breast cancer screening, discovering lifesaving treatments, and better understanding factors that can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

These are highlights of 7 ACS-supported pioneers in breast cancer research who laid the foundation for breast cancer treatments that are saving lives today:

1950s: Stanley Cohen, PhD, discovered the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is linked to cell growth and multiple cancer types. Studies are currently under way to see if anti-EGFR drugs that are already used to treat other types of cancers, such as Erbitux (cetuximab) and Tarceva (erlotinib), might also work against breast cancer. Cohen became an American Cancer Society Professor in 1976 and was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work in 1986.

1974: V. Craig Jordan, PhD, showed that tamoxifen could prevent breast cancer in rats by binding to the estrogen receptor. Tamoxifen was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating estrogen receptor positive breast cancer in 1978.

1978: Bernard Fisher, MD, Richard Love, MD, and V. Craig Jordan, PhD, developed and carried out the first trial of tamoxifen to prevent recurrence in breast cancer survivors.

1979: Arnold Levine, PhD, discovered the p53 protein, later shown to be a tumor suppressor gene, mutated in more than half of all cancers, including breast cancer. In 2009, Levine was awarded the ACS Medal of Honor.

1988: Dennis Slamon, MD, discovered that the HER2/neu growth factor receptor is overexpressed in 15-30% of breast cancers and is an unfavorable prognostic feature. Slamon went on to develop Herceptin (trastuzumab), which is used today to treat thousands of women with breast cancer.

1998: Bernard Fisher, MD, reported that tamoxifen reduces the incidence of breast cancer by 49% in high-risk women. In 1986, he received the ACS Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious ACS award bestowed to distinguished individuals or foundations who have made valuable contributions in the categories of basic research, cancer control, clinical research, and philanthropy.

2001:  Walt Disney-American Cancer Society Research Professor for Breast Cancer Mary-Claire King, PhD, along with past Society grantee Bernard Fischer, MD, reported that tamoxifen prevents recurrence of breast cancer in BRCA2 but not BRCA1 patients.