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Thomas Fowler treatment
In the 18th century, Thomas Fowler created what became known as "Fowler's Solution," a combination of arsenic trioxide and potassium bicarbonate, which "became a standard remedy to leukaemia -
First case of Leukaemia
Leukemia was not officially diagnosed until 1845, when John Hughes Benett diagnosed it in Edinburgh (Greaves, 2000). -
19th Century Leukaemia
Other European physicians in the 19th century observed that their patients had very high levels of white blood cells, and they called the disease “weisses blut,” meaning “white blood.” -
Lissauer
In 1865, a German physician named Dr Jack Lissauer used Fowler's solution to treat chronic myelocytic leukemia -
Leukaemia considered an incurable disease
In the early 20th century, leukaemia was considered an incurable, chronic disease. Around 1900, after the discovery of radiation, studies showed that x-rays could reduce the size of tumors. -
Types of Leukaemia classified
In 1913, four types of leukemia were classified: chronic lymphocytic leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and erythroleukemia. -
Hermann Muller
In the 1920s, Hermann Muller recognized that ionizing radiation could cause mutations in DNA that contributed to cancer. -
Aminopterin - childhood Leukaemia
In the 1940s there were new treatments, such as aminopterin, first used by Sidney Farber of Boston to treat acute childhood leukemia. -
Patients began to be cured
In 1970, it was first confirmed that some patients could be cured of leukemia, -
Treatment in China
In the 1970s in China, arsenic was revived as a treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia. -
Leukaemia in the 1980s and 1990s
By the 1980s and 1990s the cure rates for leukemia were around 70%. -
Increase in childhood Leukaemia
There has been an increase of childhood leukaemia in modern times these may be lifestyle-related.
