Table 1.
Milestones of oncology research before 1900.
| Historical period | Major discoveries in oncology | |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient discoveries and theories of cancer | 3000 B.C. | In Edwin Smith's papyrus the first case of human cancer is described |
| 1500 B.C. | Ebers' papyrus describes the tumors of the skin, uterus, stomach and rectum | |
| 400 B.C. | Hippocrates proposes the first theory on the development of tumors | |
| 130–200 | Galen deepens the theory of Hippocrates, proposing that the excess of black bile causes incurable tumors while the excess of yellow bile causes treatable tumors | |
| 300–400 | Oribasius of Baghdad confirms that the tumors are caused by an excess of black bile | |
| No significant progress in the study of tumors*,** | 527–565 | Aëtius of Amida introduces the treatment of breast tumors by amputation of the entire organ |
| 625–690 | Paul of Aegina describes the tumors of the uterus and the surgical approach for the treatment of the bladder, the thyroid and the polypectomy of the nasal polyps | |
| 860–932 | Rhazes di Baghdad describes new treatments for tumors in the “De Chirurgia” manuscript. | |
| 980–1037 | Avicenna introduces the removal of tumors of the rectum | |
| 1070–1162 | Averroes of Cordoba describes the tumors of the esophagus and rectum and introduces the hysterectomy for the removal of uterine tumors | |
| 1500 | Paracelsus questions Hippocrates and Galen theories and hypothesizes that tumors develop due to an accumulation of “salts” in the blood | |
| 1543 | Andreas Vesalius published the manuscript “De Humani corporis fabrica” containing anatomical information resulting from post-mortem examinations | |
| 1600 | Doctors and surgeons propose that the coagulation and fermentation of blood and/or lymph are the cause of the development of tumors | |
| 1600–1620 | Invention of the microscope | |
| 1700 | Boerhaave hypothesizes that cancer is most likely induced by elements, present in water or in the ground, which defines viruses. It is theorized that chronic inflammation, injury, trauma and family predispositions can determine the development of tumors | |
| 1760 | Morgagni hypothesizes that cancer is related to pathological lesions of a particular organ | |
| 1775 | Perciaval Pott defines the association between scrotal cancer and exposure to soot in chimney sweeps | |
| 1858 | Rudolf Virchow identifies the origin of tumors in the altered cells | |
| 1896 | Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers X-rays | |
| Birth of radiotherapy | 1896 | Emil H. Grubbé uses X-rays to treat breast cancer |
| 1898 | Marie and Pierre Curie discover the radiation emitted by the Radium | |
| 1899 | Marie and Pierre Curie suggest using X-rays to treat tumors | |
| 1920 | Birth of radiotherapy |