|
|
Since the earliest medical records were
kept, cancer as a disease has been described in the
history of medicine. The earliest known descriptions
of cancer appear in seven papyri, discovered and deciphered
late in the 19th
|
century. They provided the first direct knowledge of Egyptian
medical practice. Two of them, known as the "Edwin Smith" and
"George Ebers" papyri, contain descriptions of cancer written
around 1600 B.C., and are believed to date from sources as early
as 2500 B.C. The Smith papyrus describes surgery, while the
Ebers' papyrus outlines pharmacological, mechanical, and magical
treatments.
Based on the information recorded on papyri and hieroglyphic
inscriptions, ancient Egyptians were able to distinguish benign
tumors from malignant tumors. They were also able to use different
treatments, including surgery, and other various modes of
medicine.
Following the decline of Egypt, the next chapters of medical
and scientific history were written in Greece and Rome. The
great doctors Hippocrates and Galen dominated medical thought
for 1500 years. They lifted medicine out of the realms of
magic, superstition, and religion. Hippocrates and Galen defined
|
disease as a natural process, and based
treatment on observation and experience. Cancers were
identified, with warnings against treatment of the more
severe forms. Hippocrates is credited with naming "cancer"
as "karkinoma" (carcinoma) because a tumor looked like
a "crab" ("karkinoma" is Greek for "crab") in that there
is a central body to a tumor and the tumor extension
appeared as the legs of the "crab".
|
|
After the fall of Rome, Constantinople became the intellectual
storehouse of civilization. From there, in Arabic translations,
classic Greek and Roman texts made their way back through
Europe. The ancient teachings of Galen continued to inspire
physicians in Constantinople, Cairo, Alexandria, Athens, and
Antioch in a time when magic spells and myths dominated the
West. Cancer continued to be explained as the result of an
excess of black bile, curable only in its earliest stages.
In the modern world, science and surgery advanced as physicians
returned to direct observation of the human body. However,
the theory that cancer was caused by an excess of black bile
continued to prevail in the 16th century. Cancer was considered
incurable, although a wide variety of pastes containing arsenic
were formulated to treat its manifestations. In the 17th century,
the old theory of disease based on bodily humors was discarded
when Gaspare Aselli discovered the vessels of the lymphatic
system and suggested abnormalities of lymph as the primary
cause of cancer.
Rejecting the 17th-century theory about the cause of cancer
was the French physician Claude Gendron. He concluded that
cancer arises locally as a hard, growing mass, untreatable
with drugs, and must be removed with all its "filaments."
Two 18th-century French scientists, physician Jean Astruc
and chemist Bernard Peyrilhe, conducted experiments to confirm
or disprove hypotheses related to cancer. Their efforts, however
absurd they seem in retrospect, established experimental oncology,
the science of seeking better diagnosis, treatments and understanding
of the causes of cancer. During this period, environmental
cancers were reported, and hospitals specializing in cancer
care were opened.
|
In the late 19th century, the development
of better microscopes not only helped document and define
disease-causing organisms, but also made possible the
examination of cells and cellular activity. Study of
cancer tissues and tumors revealed that cancer
|
|
cells were markedly different in appearance than normal cells
of surrounding tissue or the cells from which they originated.
Researchers began to focus on questions such as the origin of
cells and the relationship of disease to the behavior of a cell.
It was the invention of the microscope that revealed the cancer
cell itself.
The early 20th century saw great strides made in understanding
the structures, functions and chemistry of living organisms.
Cancer research in cell culture, chemical carcinogens, diagnostic
techniques and chemotherapy firmly established oncology as
science. Researchers pursued different theories of the origin
of cancer, subjecting their hypotheses to systematic experimentation.
A viral cause of cancer in chickens was documented in 1911,
and both chemical and physical carcinogens were conclusively
identified. Chromosomal abnormalities were also investigated
as possible causes of cancer.
In 1913, a need to combat rising public fear and ignorance
concerning cancer led to two significant events: the publication
of the first known article on cancer's warning signs in a
popular woman's magazine, and formation of a nationwide organization
dedicated to public education on cancer. Cancer, as a disease,
was brought into the light of day.
|
|
In 1937, the U.S. Congress made the
conquest of cancer a national goal with a unanimous
vote to pass the National Cancer Institute Act. This
Act created the National Cancer Institute, which was
expected to break new theoretical ground by conducting
its own research, promoting research in other institutions
and coordinating cancer-related
|
projects and activities. In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon
signed the
National Cancer Act, launching a National Cancer Program
administered by the National Cancer Institute. Key events in
the United States' national cancer policy legislative history,
from 1937 to 1999 are available here.
Since its establishment, fundamental biomedical research
supported by the National Cancer Institute has advanced the
understanding of cancer. Using tools of molecular biology
and molecular genetics, scientists are making great leaps
in the discovery and mapping of links between chromosomes,
the genes within, and cancer. In addition to traditional cancer
therapies, potential solutions to the prevention and cure
of cancer seem limited only by the imagination.
|
