He regarded both lesions as chronic and deadly, but the ulcerated one was worse without any chance of cure. Both tumors were associated with pain and swelling in the groin. He wrote, in his notes, that there were 2 distinct forms of cancer: one was firm to the touch and nonulcerated, whereas the other was foul smelling and ulcerated. The first comprehensive description of symptoms, signs, and treatment of cancer of the uterus was rendered by Aretaeus (AD 81-138), who lived and practiced medicine in Alexandria, Egypt. His most highly praised prescription was a boiled mixture of ash of sea crabs, egg white, honey, and powdered feces of falcons. He recommended compound herbal and other remedies for internal use in advanced cancer before or after attempted surgery. Remedies for cancer were compiled by Pliny the Roman (AD 23-79), in his Materia Medica. It is known as the first medical book published by printing. The first edition of De Medicina by Celsus was printed in Florence in 1478. He knew that advanced breast cancers have a tendency to recur in the armpit, with or without swelling of the arm, and may cause death by spreading to distant organs 5, 7, 8 (Fig. For cancers, he recommended early and aggressive surgical therapy. 3, 4 Celsus treated superficial carcinomas with a topical application of boiled cabbage and a salted mixture of honey and egg white. In his De Medicina, he described several varieties of superficial cancer, but he also mentioned cancers of visceral and parenchymal organs such as the stomach, colon, liver, and spleen. He continued the Hippocratic tradition by comparing cancer to a crab that adheres to surrounding structures with his claws. Celsus became an influential Roman physician and made Latin the language of medicine. Among the new citizen-physicians was Aulus Celsus (25 BC-AD 50). The collected writings of Hippocrates was printed in Venice in 1588.Īfter Greece became part of the Roman Empire in 146 BC, Greek physicians were granted Roman citizenship and a place to settle in Rome.
Superficial lesions were treated with lotions and cautery, and deep tumors were either cut out with a knife or deemed untreatable 5, 6 (Fig. Superficial and deep carcinomas and cancers were separate entities and were treated differently. He regarded breast cancer and cervical cancer with bloody discharge as life-threatening tumors and applied only palliative care. Hippocrates described anorectal condylomas and polyps and used a speculum for examination if the lesion was higher up in the colon. Greek physicians knew about cancer of the skin, mouth, stomach, and breast. Scirrhus, or hard tumor, was separated from carcinoma and cancer, and listed as a tumor with uncertain malignant potential. Cancerous growths reminded Hippocrates of a moving crab, which led to the terms carcinoma (malignant tumor) and cancer (ulcerated malignant tumor). They rationalized that excess or deprivation of blood, mucus, bile, and other body secretions, particularly at old age, may induce cancer. They believed that cancer was initiated by natural causes. Hippocrates (460-375 BC) and his disciples opposed superstitions as cause of cancer.
The Greeks molded medicine into a mixture of art and science. The Edwin Smith Papyrus was written about 3000 BC.
Many of these concoctions remained in external and internal use, in various concentrations, for more than 3000 years. 3 The Sumerians, Chinese, Indians, Persians, and Hebrews of the same epoch were partial to herbal remedies such as tea, fruit juices, figs, and boiled cabbage, but in advanced cases, they did not hesitate to resort to solutions and pastes of iron, copper, sulfur, and mercury. 2 The Egyptians attempted to treat tumors and cancers with cautery, knives, and salts, and introduced arsenic paste that remained in use as “Egyptian ointment” until the 19th century. The Ebers Papayrus, dated circa 1500 BC, contains the first reference to a soft-tissue tumor, a fatty tumor, and includes reference to possible cancers of the skin, uterus, stomach, and rectum. The writer concluded that bulging tumor of the breast was a grave disease and there was no treatment for it 1 (Fig. In medicine, the earliest written description of diseases and cancer, a breast cancer, is found in the Edwin Smith Papyrus that was written approximately 3000 BC. Let it be what it may, ultimate reliance in history requires written records. There is some truth to the old adage that cancer is as old as the human race, but paleopathologic findings indicate that tumors existed in animals in prehistoric times, long before men appeared on Earth.
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