โ Scribed by Steven I. Hajdu
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
B efore 1948, in the 1940s, oncology-the science of dealing with the physical, chemical, and biologic properties and features of neoplasms, including causation, pathogenesis, and treatment-was an evolving field in medicine. Tumors were classified and diagnosed according to the latest editions of 2 textbooks in tumor pathology. 1,2 The authors of those textbooks differed substantially on classification and terminology; but they agreed that, if a surgeon considers a lesion malignant and the pathologist's biopsy report states that it is benign, then the surgeon should never accept that report without question. There should be a consultation between the surgeon and the pathologist. They should see the patient together, and then the pathologist may change his opinion. If no agreement is reached, then the patient should be treated on the grounds of clinical and radiologic findings. 1,2 The treatment was either radium and roentgen rays or surgery, ranging from excision, amputation, disarticulation, and hemipelvectomy to pelvic exenteration, radical mastectomy, and neck dissection with commando operation. Chemotherapy virtually did not exist beyond the sporadic application of nitrogen mustard. Regardless of the treatment, cancer was viewed as a fatal disease in most cases, particularly in children. I would not go as far as stating that, before 1948, everything that was done when it came to tumors was improper; however, many patients received inappropriate treatment.
The year 1948 signaled, among other things, the beginning of the end for treating patients without a biopsy-proven diagnosis. Shortly after the Second World War was over, officers and members of the newly formed American Cancer Society and the National Research Council realized that there was a void in communication in oncology. Once an agreement was reached that there was an urgent need for a peer-reviewed journal for communication among physicians who cared for cancer patients, only 1 issue remained unresolved: who should be the Editor of the new journal, Cancer.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
In April 2007 we celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Leonhard Euler, one of the greatest mathematicians and mechanics of all time. It is largely through Euler's work that mathematical analysis (including the theory of differential equations and the calculus of variations) came into being