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100
1500 BC Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
The first recorded case of cancer was inscribed on papyrus in 1500 BC. The scroll dictates a case of tumors in the breast that were treated by cauterization -
400
Greece
Greece
Philosopher concludes that cancer is caused by an unbalance of the four humors, a theory believed at the time that the body consisted only of blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile, which dictated who you were as a person -
Germany
Germany
Scientists conclude that cancer is contagious. Creates a major scientific setback -
Scotland
Scotland
John Hunter pioneers the first consistently successful treatment of dealing with early stages of cancer. Surgically removing the cells before they spread saved many lives -
Germany
Germany
Rudolf Virchow puts to use microscopes to study cancer and allows many new conclusions to be made about cancer -
Germany
Germany
Many BRMs are discovered and used to treat cancer, the most common of which being monoclonal antibodies. A huge breakthrough in cancer treatment -
Germany
GermanyConrad Roentgen discovers the power of radiation in the form of x-rays in the battle against cancer.This was a major breakthrough in the field of medecine -
United States
United StatesScreening for cancer helps in early detection. The first screening test to be widely used for cancer was the Pap test. It was developed by George Papanicolaou as a research method in understanding the menstrual cycle. He then noted that the test could help in finding cervical cancer early and presented his findings in 1923. It was then that the American Cancer Society (ACS) promoted the test during the early 1960’s and it became widely used as a screening tool. Modern mammography methods were de -
United States
Accidentally resulting from studies done with mustard gas, the US government found nitrogen mustard had substantial activity against cancerous lymph nodes, called lymphoma. In 1956 the first cure of metastatic cancer was obtained when methotrexate was used to treat a rare tumor called choriocarcinoma . Since then, researchers have discovered a variety of drugs that block cell functions involving growth and replication, controlling cancer for long periods of time, if not curing them. -
Scotland
ScotlandAfter the humoral theory came the lymph theory. Stahl and Hoffman theorized that cancer was composed of fermenting and degenerating lymph, varying in density, acidity, and alkalinity. John Hunter, the Scottish surgeon from the 1700s, agreed that tumors grow from lymph constantly released from blood.