In 470, Atossa, daughter of Cyrius the Great became the first women in recorded history to be diagnosed with breast cancer. She was the wife of two Achamenian kings, Cambyses and Darius and mother of Xerxes, and is the most prominent lady in the history of ancient Iran.

Not much is known about her life, except that she has witnessed the reign of the four first Achamenian kings and that she has played a decisive role in the long period of turbulence and significance.