Louis-Joseph-Marie Robert (1771-1850) and his method for the prevention of breast cancer.

In 19th century breast cancer was still an incurable disease. The treatment was consisting of surgical excision of the tumour, cautery iron and topical application of caustic substances such as arsenic and caustic potash without promising results. The French physician Louis Robert (1771-1850) adopted the leech method of François-Joseph-Victor Broussais (1772-1838) and proposed, for the first time, a method to prevent breast cancer. Despite the supposed success of his approach, the introduction of the notion of prevention and the ways to achieve it, it is meticulously analyzed in his work.