Closing In On Cancer: Solving a 5000-Year-Old Mystery

by National Cancer Institute

Cancer, as an illness of man, has been described in the history of medicine since the earliest medical records were kept. This booklet traces the interwoven histories of science, medicine, and cancer from ancient Egypt to the present.

For several thousand years cancer was visible only in its outward manifestations. It was the invention of the microscope that revealed the cancer cell itself. Complex biotechnologies developed in the past two decades have enabled scientists to pursue, at the molecular level, knowledge of the mechanisms that trigger cancer's uncontrolled and deadly cell growth.

Fundamental biomedical research supported by the National Cancer Institute since its establishment in 1937 has advanced the understanding of cancer. Using the tools of molecular biology and molecular genetics, scientists are making great leaps in discovery, mapping out the links between chromosomes, the genes within, and cancer. Potential new cancer treatments and diagnostic tools are limited only by innovation and resourcefulness as NCI continues to define the extraordinary research opportunities that will result in the successful control of this disease.

Cancer Described By
The Ancient Egypitans

3000 BC - 800 BC

MIXING MEDICINE AND RELIGION, prescribing pills and pigs' ears, the physicians of Ancient Egypt treated patients for several forms of cancer. Hieroglyphic inscriptions and papyri manuscripts distinguish between benign and malignant tumors, and reveal that surface tumors were removed surgically. For cancers of the stomach and the uterus, compounds of barley, pigs' ears and other ingredients were ordered. Ointments, enemas, castor oil, suppositories, poultices and parts of animals were among commonly dispensed medications.

Egyptian Medicine and Religion

The practices of medicine and religion in ancient Egypt were so intermingled that all deities were associated with some form of health or illness. Prominent among the gods and goddesses were Isis and her falcon-headed son Horus; Thoth, a physician to the gods; and Imhotep, the Pharaoh's doctor, who eventually was deified. The religious emphasis on special care for the dead reinforced the physician's authority.

The Earliest Known Descriptions of Cancer

Seven papyri, discovered and deciphered late in the 19th century, provided the first direct knowledge of Egyptian medical practice. Two-known as the "Edwin Smith" and "George Elbers" papyri-contain descriptions of cancer written about 1600 B.C., and are believed to date from sources as early as 2500 B.C. The Smith papyrus describes surgery, while the Ebers' outlines pharmacological, mechanical and magical treatments.

The Birth of Western Medicine In Greece And Rome

525 BC - 848 AC

FOLLOWING THE DECLINE OF EGYPT, the next chapters of medical and scientific history were written in Greece and Rome. There the great doctors Hippocrates and Galen-who would dominate medical thought for 1500 years-lifted medicine out of the realms of magic, superstition and religion, defining disease as a natural process, and basing treatment on observation and experience. Cancers were identified, with warnings against treatment of the more severe forms.

Greek Theories of Disease

By the time of Hippocrates, Greek philosophers believed that four elements-earth, air, water and fire-each with its own quality of cold, dry, moist and hot, governed the universe. Harmony derived from balance among the four. Four corresponding fluids, or humors, governed man's health-blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. Illness and disease were the result of imbalance among the four humors.

The Cult of Aesculapius

As Greek civilization spreads, other culture's beliefs in demons, signs, incantations and superstitions were absorbed. The idea of gods healing took root in the myth and cult of Aesculapius, the son of Apollo and Coronis, who was credited with miracle cures and raising the dead. Temples were built in which priests administered a psychotherapeutic regimen of diet, baths, physical therapy and hypnosis.

Roman Surgery

Two great physicians of antiquity, the Roman Galen and the Greek Antyllos, performed and described new procedures. Antyllos became an authority on aneurysms and left precise surgical directions to treat cataracts and fistulae of the bronchi and intestine as well. Galen excised tumors and infected bone, and resectioned ribs and sternums. Like Hippocrates, he believed cancer was best left alone.

Galen: Physician for a Millennium

From the Dark Ages to the Renaissance, the Roman physician Galen (c.129-200) was the most influential figure in medicine through his writings. Appointed physician to the gladiators of his hometown of Pergamum early in his career, he gained a wealth of anatomical insight treating fractures and brutal wounds. Opinionated and prolific, he produced 500 treatises whose contents were unchallenged for 1500 years.

Hospitals

The development of hospitals was an outstanding Arab contribution to medicine. Hospitals in the West were few and inferior in sanitation, care, facilities and medication. While monastic orders built hospitals in the Near East to care for wounded Crusaders, the great hospitals of the Middle Ages were at Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo.

Universities and Medical Schools: Legacy of the Middle Ages

The founding of medical schools and universities may be the greatest monument to the medieval period. For 400 years the school at Salerno admitted men and women, producing notable texts on obstetrics, surgery and health maintenance. Universities evolved from groups of masters and pupils in law, theology, art and medicine, and schools were established at Bologna, Paris, Montpellier and Oxford in the eleventh century.

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