Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHistory of CancerModern AdvancesFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
History of Cancer
Modern Advances
Frequently Asked Questions
Cancermay have been “discovered” and written about thousands of years ago. However, the disease itself has actually existed since before the evolution of humans.
It was first documented in Egypt about 5,000 years ago. Since that time, people from cultures all over the world have written about the disease and its potential treatments.
This article will look at what we know about the history of cancer. It will also talk about how our understanding of what causes cancer and how it can be treated has changed over time.
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Although most people cite Hippocrates as the first person to use the word cancer, he actually used the Greek wordskarkinosandkarkinomawhen he wrote about tumors. These words were related to the Greek word for “crab” because Hippocrates thought the insides of the tumors looked like crabs.
The Roman physician Celsus was the first to translate the word into the Latin word “cancer.”
20th Century to Present Day
The 20th century was an exciting time in cancer research. Carcinogens,chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and better ways to diagnose cancer were all discovered in these years. Some of the most important discoveries of the 20th century include:
Today, we are still learning more about cancer. We have found ways to prevent and treat some forms of cancer and even cure others.Clinical trialshave allowed scientists to test new ways to find and treat cancer. Some of this century’s notable discoveries so far include:
Summary
Humans have known about cancer for millennia, but our modern understanding of cancer has only developed in the past few centuries. New advancements are being made all the time, and huge leaps have been made in the last few decades alone. This bodes well for the future of cancer treatments and therapies.
A Word From Verywell
How we look at cancer and its treatments has significantly changed in the last few centuries. Even decades ago, we had limited treatment options and less research. Learning about cancer and treatment history can be interesting when seeing how far we’ve come in such a short time. With new research and discoveries occurring all the time, the future of cancer research is an exciting topic.
Cancer has been around since humanity began recording its history and likely existed even before that time. The oldest description of cancer originates from Egypt around 3000 BC in a text called the Edwin Smith Papyrus, which also describes the Egyptian process of tumor removal using a method of cauterization.
In 1838, a pathologist known as Johannes Müller showed that cancer cells are what make up cancer. Before this, it was believed that cancer was made up of lymph.
The German chemist Paul Ehrlich started working with drugs to treat infectious diseases in the early 1900s. He coined the term “chemotherapy” to describe the use of chemicals to treat disease.He wasn’t very optimistic about medicine to treat cancer, though.
Cancer is more common with age, and more people are living longer, increasing the risk of cancer. A better metric of progress is the cancer death rate, which is decreasing, indicating that we are developing better treatments for cancer.
22 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Di Lonardo A, Nasi S, Pulciani S.Cancer: we should not forget the past.J Cancer. 2015;6(1):29-39. doi:10.7150/jca.10336American Cancer Society.Understanding cancer causes: ancient times to present.National Cancer Institute.Cancer: a historic perspective.Bolli R.William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood: part II.Circ Res. 2019;124(9):1300-1302. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.314977Ghosh SK.Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of modern medicine.Anat Sci Int. 2017;92(3):305-312. doi:10.1007/s12565-016-0373-7Walter E, Scott M.The life and work of Rudolf Virchow 1821-1902: “Cell theory, thrombosis and the sausage duel”.J Intensive Care Soc. 2017;18(3):234–235. doi:10.1177/1751143716663967Faguet GB.A brief history of cancer: age-old milestones underlying our current knowledge database.Int J Cancer. 2015;136(9):2022-2236. doi:10.1002/ijc.29134Iida K, Proctor RN.‘The industry must be inconspicuous’: Japan Tobacco’s corruption of science and health policy via the Smoking Research Foundation.Tob Control. 2018;27(e1):e3-e11. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053971Gerlich WH.Medical virology of hepatitis B: how it began and where we are now.Virol J. 2013;10(1):1-25. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-239National Institutes of Health.Gene therapy turns 30 years old.Takaoka M, Miki Y.BRCA1 gene: function and deficiency.Int J Clin Oncol. 2018;23(1):36-44. doi:10.1007/s10147-017-1182-2Okunade KS.Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.J Obstet Gynaecol. 2020;40(5):602-608. doi:10.1080/01443615.2019.1634030National Cancer Institute.The HPV vaccine.National Cancer Institute.Harnessing the power of our immune systems to treat neuroblastoma: discovery of Ch14.18 immunotherapy.National Cancer Institute.Lung cancer screening saves lives: the National Lung Screening Trial.Park JH, Geyer MB, Brentjens RJ.CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapeutics for hematologic malignancies: interpreting clinical outcomes to date.Blood J Am Soc Hematol. 2016;127(26):3312-20. doi:10.1182/blood-2016-02-629063Food and Drug Administration.FDA recognizes Memorial Sloan-Kettering database of molecular tumor marker information.American Cancer Society.Understanding what cancer is: ancient time to present.American Cancer Society: The Cancer Atlas.History of cancer.American Cancer Society.History of cancer treatments: surgery.Valent P, Groner B, Schumacher U, et al.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and his contributions to the foundation and birth of translational medicine.J Innate Immun. 2016;8(2):111-120. doi:10.1159/000443526National Cancer Institute.Cancer statistics.
22 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Di Lonardo A, Nasi S, Pulciani S.Cancer: we should not forget the past.J Cancer. 2015;6(1):29-39. doi:10.7150/jca.10336American Cancer Society.Understanding cancer causes: ancient times to present.National Cancer Institute.Cancer: a historic perspective.Bolli R.William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood: part II.Circ Res. 2019;124(9):1300-1302. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.314977Ghosh SK.Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of modern medicine.Anat Sci Int. 2017;92(3):305-312. doi:10.1007/s12565-016-0373-7Walter E, Scott M.The life and work of Rudolf Virchow 1821-1902: “Cell theory, thrombosis and the sausage duel”.J Intensive Care Soc. 2017;18(3):234–235. doi:10.1177/1751143716663967Faguet GB.A brief history of cancer: age-old milestones underlying our current knowledge database.Int J Cancer. 2015;136(9):2022-2236. doi:10.1002/ijc.29134Iida K, Proctor RN.‘The industry must be inconspicuous’: Japan Tobacco’s corruption of science and health policy via the Smoking Research Foundation.Tob Control. 2018;27(e1):e3-e11. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053971Gerlich WH.Medical virology of hepatitis B: how it began and where we are now.Virol J. 2013;10(1):1-25. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-239National Institutes of Health.Gene therapy turns 30 years old.Takaoka M, Miki Y.BRCA1 gene: function and deficiency.Int J Clin Oncol. 2018;23(1):36-44. doi:10.1007/s10147-017-1182-2Okunade KS.Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.J Obstet Gynaecol. 2020;40(5):602-608. doi:10.1080/01443615.2019.1634030National Cancer Institute.The HPV vaccine.National Cancer Institute.Harnessing the power of our immune systems to treat neuroblastoma: discovery of Ch14.18 immunotherapy.National Cancer Institute.Lung cancer screening saves lives: the National Lung Screening Trial.Park JH, Geyer MB, Brentjens RJ.CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapeutics for hematologic malignancies: interpreting clinical outcomes to date.Blood J Am Soc Hematol. 2016;127(26):3312-20. doi:10.1182/blood-2016-02-629063Food and Drug Administration.FDA recognizes Memorial Sloan-Kettering database of molecular tumor marker information.American Cancer Society.Understanding what cancer is: ancient time to present.American Cancer Society: The Cancer Atlas.History of cancer.American Cancer Society.History of cancer treatments: surgery.Valent P, Groner B, Schumacher U, et al.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and his contributions to the foundation and birth of translational medicine.J Innate Immun. 2016;8(2):111-120. doi:10.1159/000443526National Cancer Institute.Cancer statistics.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Di Lonardo A, Nasi S, Pulciani S.Cancer: we should not forget the past.J Cancer. 2015;6(1):29-39. doi:10.7150/jca.10336American Cancer Society.Understanding cancer causes: ancient times to present.National Cancer Institute.Cancer: a historic perspective.Bolli R.William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood: part II.Circ Res. 2019;124(9):1300-1302. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.314977Ghosh SK.Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of modern medicine.Anat Sci Int. 2017;92(3):305-312. doi:10.1007/s12565-016-0373-7Walter E, Scott M.The life and work of Rudolf Virchow 1821-1902: “Cell theory, thrombosis and the sausage duel”.J Intensive Care Soc. 2017;18(3):234–235. doi:10.1177/1751143716663967Faguet GB.A brief history of cancer: age-old milestones underlying our current knowledge database.Int J Cancer. 2015;136(9):2022-2236. doi:10.1002/ijc.29134Iida K, Proctor RN.‘The industry must be inconspicuous’: Japan Tobacco’s corruption of science and health policy via the Smoking Research Foundation.Tob Control. 2018;27(e1):e3-e11. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053971Gerlich WH.Medical virology of hepatitis B: how it began and where we are now.Virol J. 2013;10(1):1-25. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-239National Institutes of Health.Gene therapy turns 30 years old.Takaoka M, Miki Y.BRCA1 gene: function and deficiency.Int J Clin Oncol. 2018;23(1):36-44. doi:10.1007/s10147-017-1182-2Okunade KS.Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.J Obstet Gynaecol. 2020;40(5):602-608. doi:10.1080/01443615.2019.1634030National Cancer Institute.The HPV vaccine.National Cancer Institute.Harnessing the power of our immune systems to treat neuroblastoma: discovery of Ch14.18 immunotherapy.National Cancer Institute.Lung cancer screening saves lives: the National Lung Screening Trial.Park JH, Geyer MB, Brentjens RJ.CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapeutics for hematologic malignancies: interpreting clinical outcomes to date.Blood J Am Soc Hematol. 2016;127(26):3312-20. doi:10.1182/blood-2016-02-629063Food and Drug Administration.FDA recognizes Memorial Sloan-Kettering database of molecular tumor marker information.American Cancer Society.Understanding what cancer is: ancient time to present.American Cancer Society: The Cancer Atlas.History of cancer.American Cancer Society.History of cancer treatments: surgery.Valent P, Groner B, Schumacher U, et al.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and his contributions to the foundation and birth of translational medicine.J Innate Immun. 2016;8(2):111-120. doi:10.1159/000443526National Cancer Institute.Cancer statistics.
Di Lonardo A, Nasi S, Pulciani S.Cancer: we should not forget the past.J Cancer. 2015;6(1):29-39. doi:10.7150/jca.10336
American Cancer Society.Understanding cancer causes: ancient times to present.
National Cancer Institute.Cancer: a historic perspective.
Bolli R.William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood: part II.Circ Res. 2019;124(9):1300-1302. doi:10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.119.314977
Ghosh SK.Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771): father of pathologic anatomy and pioneer of modern medicine.Anat Sci Int. 2017;92(3):305-312. doi:10.1007/s12565-016-0373-7
Walter E, Scott M.The life and work of Rudolf Virchow 1821-1902: “Cell theory, thrombosis and the sausage duel”.J Intensive Care Soc. 2017;18(3):234–235. doi:10.1177/1751143716663967
Faguet GB.A brief history of cancer: age-old milestones underlying our current knowledge database.Int J Cancer. 2015;136(9):2022-2236. doi:10.1002/ijc.29134
Iida K, Proctor RN.‘The industry must be inconspicuous’: Japan Tobacco’s corruption of science and health policy via the Smoking Research Foundation.Tob Control. 2018;27(e1):e3-e11. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053971
Gerlich WH.Medical virology of hepatitis B: how it began and where we are now.Virol J. 2013;10(1):1-25. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-239
National Institutes of Health.Gene therapy turns 30 years old.
Takaoka M, Miki Y.BRCA1 gene: function and deficiency.Int J Clin Oncol. 2018;23(1):36-44. doi:10.1007/s10147-017-1182-2
Okunade KS.Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.J Obstet Gynaecol. 2020;40(5):602-608. doi:10.1080/01443615.2019.1634030
National Cancer Institute.The HPV vaccine.
National Cancer Institute.Harnessing the power of our immune systems to treat neuroblastoma: discovery of Ch14.18 immunotherapy.
National Cancer Institute.Lung cancer screening saves lives: the National Lung Screening Trial.
Park JH, Geyer MB, Brentjens RJ.CD19-targeted CAR T-cell therapeutics for hematologic malignancies: interpreting clinical outcomes to date.Blood J Am Soc Hematol. 2016;127(26):3312-20. doi:10.1182/blood-2016-02-629063
Food and Drug Administration.FDA recognizes Memorial Sloan-Kettering database of molecular tumor marker information.
American Cancer Society.Understanding what cancer is: ancient time to present.
American Cancer Society: The Cancer Atlas.History of cancer.
American Cancer Society.History of cancer treatments: surgery.
Valent P, Groner B, Schumacher U, et al.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and his contributions to the foundation and birth of translational medicine.J Innate Immun. 2016;8(2):111-120. doi:10.1159/000443526
National Cancer Institute.Cancer statistics.
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