Lecture 2: Historical Perspectives in Cancer

A set of QA flashcards covering major historical milestones, figures, theories, treatments, and prevention insights in cancer from ancient times to today.

What is Palaeo-Oncology?

The study of cancer in the fossil record, tracing evidence back to >240 million years ago and across ancient histories to connect to modern cancer.

When is the earliest written record of cancer and which text describes it?

Ancient Egypt; Edwin Smith Papyrus (~2625 BC) describes breast cancer.

What is the significance of the Ebers Papyrus in cancer history?

Dating to ~1550 BC, it documents cancer treatment and references remedies and divine associations related to cancer.

What terms did Hippocrates coin related to cancer and why are they significant?

Karkinos (crab) and karkinoma (carcinoma); named for finger‑like projections and became the basis for the modern term cancer.

Who popularized the Latin term for cancer and what surgical advice did his work include?

Aulus Celsus; De Medicina popularized karkinos as cancer and recommended aggressive surgical therapy.

What was Galen's role in the humoral theory of cancer?

He propagated the humoral theory (black bile and yellow bile) and linked cancer to humors, delaying surgical advances; he also introduced oncos (tumour) terminology.

How did John Arderne contribute to cancer treatment in the Middle Ages?

Performed early cancer surgeries guided by anatomy and used anaesthetics like hemlock, henbane, and opium to ease pain.

Who is known as the Father of Pathological Anatomy and what did he contribute?

Antonio Benivieni; described cancer cases and laid groundwork for autopsy-based study of cancer.

What is Paracelsus known for in cancer history?

Pioneer of chemistry who introduced dose as a determinant of effect and promoted internal remedies using various metals and minerals.

What major methodological shift did Francis Bacon contribute to science?

Development of the scientific method, underpinning systematic, evidence-based approaches in cancer research.

Who is credited with advancing microscopy and cell theory in this history?

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (father of microbiology) and Robert Hooke (early cell theory; cork cells and microscopes).

What did Rudolph Virchow contribute to our understanding of cancer?

All cells come from pre-existing cells; cellular origin of cancer helped end humoral/lymph theories.

What environmental factor did Percival Pott identify as causing cancer?

Chronic soot exposure leading to scrotal carcinoma in chimney sweeps (early occupational cancer evidence).

What key smoking-related cancer evidence emerged in the 20th century?

1941—carcinogens identified in tobacco; 1964 Surgeon General linked smoking to lung cancer.

What is the Rous sarcoma virus and its significance?

1910 discovery that chicken sarcoma could be transmitted via cell-free filtrates; evidence for oncogenic viruses and later oncogenes (SRC, MYC, Ras).

What impact did Marshall and Warren’s work have on cancer understanding?

1984 linked Helicobacter pylori to gastric ulcers and gastric cancer; Nobel Prize in 2005, shifting view of infection-driven cancer.

How did mustard gas influence cancer therapy?

WWI observations of bone marrow depletion led to later chemotherapy; 1942 Goodman & Gilman showed mustard agents could destroy cancer cells; 1948 Haddow identified active mustard compound.

Who was Sidney Farber and what was his breakthrough?

1948: remission of leukemia in children treated with aminopterin (a folate antagonist); foundational for modern chemotherapy.

What milestone did the United States reach in 1971 regarding cancer?

Nixon declared the War on Cancer and the National Cancer Act was enacted, accelerating federal funding and research.

What shift in cancer therapy began after 1991?

Movement from cytotoxic chemotherapy to targeted therapies and precision medicine guided by genomics; 'Right drug, right patient, right time.'

What is TP53 and why is it important in cancer biology?

TP53 is a tumor suppressor gene; it is the most commonly mutated gene in cancer (identified in 1979).

What are BRCA1/BRCA2 and their significance?

Identified in 1994/1995; carriers have markedly higher risk for breast and ovarian cancers (e.g., ~85% and ~45% risk in family studies).

What hereditary cancer syndromes are noted in the history?

Lynch syndrome (described 1966); others include Retinoblastoma, neurofibromatosis, Li‑Fraumeni syndrome, and multiple polyposis.

What are the classic cancer treatments developed through the 19th–20th centuries?

Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; advances in anesthesia/antisepsis enabled radical surgery and new radiation methods.

What are key milestones in the development of radiotherapy?

Röntgen discovered X‑rays; 1897 radiotherapy used for inoperable breast cancer; Becquerel/Curie radioactivity; Abbe applied radiation to skin cancer.

How many cancers can be prevented according to UK cancer prevention efforts?

About 4 in 10 cancers could be prevented through known lifestyle and environmental factors.

What lifestyle and environmental factors are linked to cancer risk in prevention diagrams?

Tobacco, Sunlight/sunbeds, Radiation, Occupation, Diet (red/processed meat, fruit/veg), Infections (HPV, H. pylori, EBV, HIV), Inactivity, Alcohol, Breastfeeding patterns, and HRT; many cancers have multiple causes.

Why is aging linked to rising cancer incidence?

Cancer incidence increases with age, contributing to rising total cancer burden as populations age.