Cancer begins when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. There are many kinds of cancer, but they all start because of out-of-control growth of abnormal cells.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Half of all men and one third of all women in the US will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have had cancer.

CANCER

Human beings are suffering with cancer throughout the recorded history

The earliest found evidences of cancer are fossilized bone tumors,fossilized ancient mummies in ancient

Egypt,ancient manus.Bone remains of mummies have revealed

growths suggestive of the bone cancer, osteosarcoma.

Our oldest description of cancer:Discovered in Egypt (by 1600 B.C)- It is called

the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and is a copy of part of an ancient Egyptian textbook on trauma surgery.

It describes 8 cases of tumors or ulcers of the breast that were treated by cauterization, with a tool called the fire drill. The writing says about the disease, "There is no treatment."

the word cancer was related by Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 B.C.)-

He was considered as the "Father of Medicine." he used the terms carcinos and carcinoma to describe non-ulcer forming and ulcer-forming tumors. In Greek, these words refer to a crab, because the finger-like spreading projections from a cancer called to mind the shape of a crab.

The Roman physician, Celsus (28-50 B.C.), translated the Greek term into cancer, the Latin word for crab. Galen (130-200) B.C used oncos a greek word which means tumors . Nowadays specialists of cancer treatment are called as oncologists

Origin of word cancer

By 15th century, scientists in Italy developed a greater understanding of the human body. Galileo and Newton used the scientific method, which later was used to study disease. Autopsies, done by Harvey (1628), allowed an understanding of the circulation of blood through the heart.

In 1761, Giovanni Morgagni of Padua was the first to do autopsies to relate the patient's illness to the pathologic findings after death. This laid the foundation for scientific oncology, the study of cancer. John hunter suggested that some cancers can be cured if the cancers havent spread to the adjacent tissues and moveable.

“There is no impropriety in removing it” . A year later techniques such as radial masectomy were developed.

Scientific oncology was developed by 19th century with use of the modern microscope in studying diseased tissues. Rudolf Virchow, often called the founder of cellular pathology, provided the scientific basis for the modern pathologic study of cancer.

Body tissues removed by the surgeon could now be examined and a precise diagnosis made. The pathologist could also tell the surgeon whether the operation had completely removed the cancer.

Types of cancer causes without history...

Humoral theory,Lymph theory,Blastema theory,Chronic irritation theory,Trauma theory,Parasite theory.

By the middle of the 20th century, scientists had in their hands the instruments needed to begin solving the complex problems of chemistry and biology. James Watson and Francis Crick, who received a Nobel Prize in 1962 for their work, had discovered the exact chemical structure of DNA, the basic material in genes.

The main important discovery in the cancer is the discovery of P53 protein which stops the division of the tumor cells in the strands of DNA in more than required amount. It lead to the discovery of many new medicines for stopping this unwanted growth of tumor cells in our body so it was a great success to the scientists.

Physicians and chemists knew that cancer would reoccur if its even removed by surgery.The Roman physician Celsus wrote, "After excision, even when a scar has formed, none the less the disease has returned.“

Galen was a 2nd-century Roman doctor whose books were preserved for centuries and who was thought to be the highest medical authority for over a thousand years. Galen viewed cancer much as Hippocrates had, and his views set the pattern for cancer management for centuries: he considered the patient incurable after a diagnosis of cancer had been made.

It wasn't until the 19th and early 20th centuries that major advances were made in general surgery and cancer surgery.

John Hunter, Astley Cooper, and John Warren achieved lasting acclaim for their swift and precise surgery. But when anaesthesia became available in 1846, great surgeons emerged whose work so rapidly advanced the art that the next hundred years became known as "the century of the surgeon.“ Three surgeons stand out because of their contributions to the art and science of cancer surgery: Bilroth in Germany, Handley in London, and Halsted in Baltimore. Their work led to "cancer operations" designed to remove all of the tumor along with the lymph nodes in the region where the tumor was located.

Types of cancer treatments are …..Hormone therapy(By 1874)Radiation(By 1896)Chemotherapy(First cured by 1956)Immunotherapy(During 1970)Targeted therapy(Late 1990s)

SymptomsLocal symptoms-lumps, swelling, hemorrhage, ulceration, pain.Metastatic symptoms-Spread of cancer, Hepatomegaly, splenomegaly,

pain in abdomen, neurological symptoms.Systemic symptoms-Its not spread due to direct link, includes

weight loss, swelling. sweating, fatigue, anemia, paraneoplastic phenomena

THE END

By,

Nandha Kumar

Group-4