Timeline of cancer treatment breakthroughs

1846

Anaesthesia became widely available, with surgery becoming the treatment of choice over the next century.

1894

The radical mastectomy procedure was developed, revolutionising the treatment of primary breast cancer.

1896

Oophorectomy (surgical removal of the ovaries) was established as a treatment for breast cancer, identifying the link between the hormone oestrogen and breast cancer and paving the way for modern hormone therapy treatment.

German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen unveiled the ‘x-ray’ and within months, systems were developed to harness the x-ray and use this for diagnosis. Over the following three years, doctors began using radiation for the treatment of cancer.

1903

The first successful brachytherapy treatment was delivered. Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy, where a radioactive source is placed beside or inside the tumour to deliver radiation over a period of time.

1910

The first less invasive laparoscopic surgical procedures on humans were published.

1934

Benefits of fractionated radiation therapy treatments were identified, where smaller doses of radiation are delivered over several weeks (allowing time for healthy cells to repair themselves).

1940s

The link between prostate cancer and the hormone testosterone was identified. This led to the development of drugs that block male hormones to effectively treat prostate cancer over the following decades.

1942

Nitrogen mustard, a compound related to mustard gas, was found to successfully treat lymphoma. This lead to the development of several more effective ‘alkylating’ chemotherapy agents.

1948

The compound aminopterin, a predecessor to common chemotherapy drug methotrexate, was first used on children with acute leukaemia which resulted in remission. This was a pivotal moment in the development of modern chemotherapy.

1956

Metastatic (advanced) cancer was first cured using a chemotherapy drug known as methotrexate.

1960s

Intraoperative radiation therapy treatment was introduced. This involves the delivery of radiation during the surgical removal of a tumour.

1970s

Imaging tests such as ultrasound and CT, MRI and PET scans began replacing the need for exploratory surgeries. Surgery also began to move towards less radical procedures, such as lumpectomy rather than radical mastectomy for breast cancer.

1975

Adjuvant chemotherapy was successfully used in the treatment of breast cancer.

This was also the year that monoclonal antibodies (replicas of proteins made by the body’s immune system to fight viruses) were first produced, which lead to the development of antibody-based immunotherapies for cancer over the following decades.

1979

The antibody and antigen that would lead to the development of immunotherapy drug Rituxan were discovered. Rituxan was the first therapeutic antibody approved for oncology patients and is used in the treatment of lymphoma.

1982

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy was invented, a highly precise radiation therapy technique which delivers high doses of radiation to cancerous tumours, while limiting the impact of radiation on healthy surrounding tissue.

1992

The clinical antibody Herceptin was developed. Herceptin is regarded as a revolutionary immunotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

1995

A new radiation therapy technique, known as stereotactic radiation therapy, was invented. By using precise technology stereotactic radiation therapy can be delivered in one to five treatments, compared to traditional radiation therapy which delivers smaller doses over many weeks.

2006

The Gardasil vaccine received TGA approval, leading to the launch of the world’s first national HPV vaccination program in Australia.

2012

Adaptive radiation therapy, a type of image-guided radiation therapy that allows radiation oncologists to replan and optimise the treatment during the course, was introduced.