The first known reference to cancer dates back to the Egyptian civilization. 3,000 years ago, there was evidence of what appeared to be breast cancer.

In the Middle Ages, this disease continued to wreak havoc. Guided by Hippocratic theory, cancer was considered the result of an imbalance in the body's classical humors. Excisions, ointments, and prayers were their only tools.

In the contemporary age, the dawn of the scientific era, the first descriptions of modern medicine appeared.