Discovered cancer cases are nothing new, they have affected people for centuries. One cannot say that cancer is a very new kind of disease; in fact its early research has made people aware of what this disease is all about.
Why is it called “cancer”?
Father of medicine, Hippocrates the physician from Greece names this disease as cancer. For this he used two words carcinoma and carcinos that refers to tumor in Greek language and thereby called it cancer ‘karkinos’. According to Hippocrates a tumor resembles a crab so he used the word that meant crab in Greek language. Hippocrates is the one who names cancer, but it doesn’t mean that he was the one who discovered cancer, in fact cancer’s discovery dates back to very early days.
Documentation of first discovered cancer
It was 1500 BC when in Egypt first ever discovered cancer was documented. This particular case accounted for eight tumors around the breast area. This case was then documented on papyrus. These tumors were then tried to cure by cauterization. It is a method where in tissues are destroyed by a hot instrument called as “fire drill”. The records tell us that at that time treatment for cancer was the palliative treatment.
Records show that ancient Egyptians were the ones who could differentiate between two forms of tumor; a benign tumor and a malignant tumor. If we go by the writings on the papyrus the method to remove tumor surgically was almost the same as of now.
The main period when the cancer research was at its peak was during the twentieth century. It was at that time when discoveries like radiation therapy, chemotherapy, identification of carcinogens and many other ways happened to diagnose cancer. Presently, some cancer forms are curable for others researches are still going on.