Historical Facts about Cancer

Cancer is probably one of the most dreaded diseases in the world today. It is the 2nd most disease causing mortality in the world because it’s considered as a lifestyle disease. In men, prostate cancer and breast cancer leads the number of cancer cases worldwide. Despite this, lung cancer is the leading cause of death with an estimated 1.3 million per year. Numerous treatments are now available including early prevention by regular consumption of supplements like Nordic Naturals DHA. Even though cancer has been considered as a modern disease, its historical background can be traced back thousands of years ago.

Hippocrates, the most important ancient Greek physician and father of western medicine who lived around 460 BC to 370 BC, was the first to describe several kinds of cancer. He referred to them using the Greek word carcinos (meaning crab or crayfish). This name was derived from the way the veins of the tumors stretched on all sides like crab feet. The name was then translated into Latin cancer (crab) by the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus or Celsus (ca 25 BC – ca 50) who was known for his medical work, De Medicina. Another Roman physician named Claudius Galen of the 2nd century AD called the benign tumors oncos (where the word oncology came from – a branch of medicine that deals with tumors), Greek for swelling and used Hippocrates’ carcinos for malignant tumors. He also added the suffix –oma, Greek for swelling, giving the name carcinoma.

The oldest known description of a surgical treatment for cancer dates back in ancient Egypt around 1600 BC. A papyrus was discovered which describes 8 cases of ulcers of the breast that were treated by cauterization or by burning to remove the tumor. The writing also says about the disease not having a treatment.

Around Hippocrates’ time, the dissection of bodies was strictly prohibited which inhibited the advancement of medicine at the time up until the 16th and 17th century when this became acceptable in medical community.  Because of this doctors came up with theories as to why there’s an occurrence of tumors in the body. One such notable work came from a British surgeon named Percival Pott. He discovered in 1775 that the cancer of the scrotum was a common disease among chimney sweepers. This observation led to the conclusion – after numerous studies – that, the presence of tumors can be caused by a lifestyle an individual has.

With the invention of the microscope, it was discovered that the cancer can spread throughout the entire body through the lymph nodes. This process was named metastasis. This was first formulated by Campbell De Morgan, a British surgeon, between 1871 and 1874. From then on surgical treatments got more and more advanced as further studies fueled surgeons’ understanding of the disease including the treatment with radiation after Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radiation at the end of the 19th century.