Evidence-Based Medicine Matters

Pamela Goldberg

Chief Executive, Breast Cancer Campaign

Without evidence-based medicine, treatment for breast cancer would be stuck in the dark ages as all women with the disease would be still be having mastectomies; breast conserving surgery resulted when the evidence showed that for many women with breast cancer the removal of the cancerous lump and adjuvant therapy was as good as the removal of the whole breast. Until the evidence showed that the removal of a small number of “sentinel” lymph nodes under the arm was a reliable indicator of whether breast cancer had spread, many women were having all their lymph nodes removed, impacting their quality of life.

Breast Cancer Campaign’s History of breast cancer covers these and other evidence-based advances which have led to improved survival for women with breast cancer. Click here to download the document (pdf).