Picture 3. A mammogram X-ray picture of a human female breast with no signs of breast cancer. Source: CDC
For background information on X-rays, see Part 1: X-Rays, Coolidge Tubes, and Breast Cancer
Mammograms are an X-ray image of a breast. They are an important tool in finding, treating, and monitoring breast cancer. Today, medical professionals regularly use mammograms for breast cancer but that hasn’t always been the case…
Dr. Emil Grubb’s Experiments
Dr Emil Grubb of Chicago was one of the first physicians in the United States to use X-rays for not only the detection, but also the treatment of breast cancer in 1896. Grubbe’s experiments date back to his time as a medical student, a time when he was manufacturing Crookes vacuum tubes for physicists. Upon Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of the X-Ray in November of 1895, Grubbe immediately began modifying the Crookes tubes to produce X-Rays.
Grubb regularly took X-rays of his hand, which eventually led to a painful dermatitis. He sought help from his medical professors at the University of Chicago, who contended that if X-rays could cause this effect on normal human tissue, they may also have therapeutic applications. To test this, Grubbe was asked to use X-rays as a treatment for a patient with incurable breast cancer.
The First Mammogram
Despite this early use of X-rays to treat breast cancer, the first mammogram was not completed until 1913 in France by Alfred Salomon. Mammograms are X-ray images of the breast and are frequently used to screen for breast cancer. Even then, Salomon was producing images of breasts which had been surgically removed from the body and it wasn’t until after World War I that the first mammogram was performed on a living person.
Mammograms continued to be performed using X-ray devices that were not specifically designed for the breast, instead using devices that were better suited to other parts of the body such as the chest. In the late 1960s, Charles Gos developed the first device that was specifically designed to take pictures of the breast.
Coolidge tubes are better than previous X-ray devices for finding breast cancer because they produce better quality images with lower doses of radiation. Better quality images mean earlier detection and lower doses of radiation reduces the harmful effects of X-rays.
But Coolidge tubes aren’t just helpful in finding breast cancer – they’re also useful in treatment. Specifically, X-rays using Coolidge tubes are used to:
- Guide biopsies: A biopsy is when a doctor takes a small amount of tissue to test for cancer. Mammographies can help guide needles when taking a tissue sample of the breast.
- Plan treatment: Mammogram images assist in planning surgeries and radiation therapy, both of which are treatments for breast cancer.
- Monitor treatment: Regular mammograms can help doctor’s know how well a treatment is working.
Conclusion
Coolidge tubes have been an important invention for finding and treating cancer as they led to better quality images through consistent and controllable X-rays.
X-rays for breast cancer are used in a procedure called a mammogram which takes pictures of the inside of the breast. It’s important for all women over the age of 40 years to get screened regularly for breast cancer as early detection can lead to better, more effective treatment. Read more about specific screening recommendations from the American Cancer Society here.
Isabella De Soriano is the Fall 2024 Marketing Intern at the IMSS. She is a medical history and oddities enthusiast with a love of taxidermy. Based in Chicago with an education in anthropology and public health from the University of Iowa, she’s interested in how medical narratives reflect understandings of society.
References
Mammograms. (n.d.). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/mammograms-fact-sheet
The Legend of Émil H. Grubbé. (n.d.). ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/articles/legend-of-emil-h-grubbe.html
Nicosia L, Gnocchi G, Gorini I, Venturini M, Fontana F, Pesapane F, Abiuso I, Bozzini AC, Pizzamiglio M, Latronico A, et al.(2023). History of Mammography: Analysis of Breast Imaging Diagnostic Achievements over the Last Century. Healthcare. 11(11):1596. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11111596
Breast Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)–Patient Version. (2024, August 23). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/patient/breast-treatment-pdq
About Mammograms. (2024, September 11). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/breast-cancer/about/mammograms.html
American Cancer Society Recommendations for the Early Detection of Breast Cancer. (2023, December 19). American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/breast-cancer/screening-tests-and-early-detection/american-cancer-society-recommendations-for-the-early-detection-of-breast-cancer.html
The X-Ray Era: 1901–1915 Dr. Pusey’s Radiation Treatment for Breast Cancer, Chicago: 1901: https://ascopost.com/issues/june-10-2018/the-x-ray-era/#:~:text=Chicago%20medical%20student%20Emil%20H,tubes%20to%20produce%20x%2Drays.