By Sanaa Mahmud, Research Team Member
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers for women in the world. Approximately 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Early breast cancer is now very treatable through non-invasive methods, a finding that took the cancer community by storm in the 1940s. Known for her trailblazing efforts in oncology and patient-centered care, Dr. Vera Peters changed countless lives with her discovery of a non-radical treatment option for breast cancer.
Mildred Vera Peters was born in Thistletown, Ontario in 1911. Throughout her life, she possessed the desire to explain everything she observed. She became a role model for women in science early on, graduating high school at 16 years old and being one of the earliest women to graduate from medical school in the 1930s. She achieved these milestones at a time when women faced great adversity not only in receiving higher education but pursuing a career in the sciences. Peters graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School as one of only ten women in her class of 115 students. She soon became a well-known figure in the field of oncology, or the study of cancer. In 1935, she pursued radiation medicine at Toronto General Hospital with the “father” of the field at the time, Dr. Gordon Richards. It was here that she also began to study Hodgkin's Disease, a malignant cancer that affects the body’s lymph nodes and immune system.
Prior to Dr. Peters’ research, diagnosis of Hodgkin's Disease came with a terminal sentence. Similarly, 98% of women diagnosed with breast cancer at any stage underwent breast removal surgery, or mastectomy. A mastectomy is a very radical procedure that is quite physically and emotionally taxing. Dr. Peters discovered that early-stage breast cancer could be treated with a lumpectomy (breast-conserving surgery) and radiation. This profound finding changed the field of oncology, and this non-invasive approach to treating breast cancer has now become common procedure. In her research for Hodgkin's Disease, she discovered that high-dose radiation of the affected and surrounding lymph nodes in the early stages of the disease could increase survival rates. Peters also introduced a three-stage classification system for the disease to help with assessing severity and treatment planning. This provided the basis for the current four-stage cancer classification system. Thanks to Dr. Peters, Hodgkin’s disease is now seen as one of the most curable forms of cancer.
Dr. Peters continued to make significant contributions to the field until her retirement in 1975. She has received countless accolades for her work, including the Gold Medal from the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology in 1979, and two honorary doctorates from York University and Queen’s University. She was also inducted posthumously into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2010, following her death in 1993.
It is no surprise that Dr. Vera Peters continues to be acknowledged to this day. Her groundbreaking research has drastically changed our understanding and standard treatments of breast cancer and Hodgkin’s disease. Now, patients with these cancers no longer have to undergo invasive surgery and have much longer survival rates. Dr. Vera Peters has revolutionized standard cancer treatments through her curiosity, intelligence, and relentless efforts, and continues to be viewed as an influential woman in science.
SOURCES:
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/vera-peters#:~:text=Known%20professionally%20as %20Dr.,Breast%20Cancer%20Research%20in%20Canada.