Hormones and breast cancer: Controlling the danger within

Abstract

For the first half of the 20th century, the effects of sex hormones on breast cancer were poorly understood due to the lack of an animal model. In 1959, Charles Huggins devised a method to induce hormone-responsive mammary cancers in rats. The model paved the way for new treatment and prevention strategies for breast cancer. © 2007, Rockefeller University Press., All rights reserved.