Cancer Chemotherapy: An Annotated History

• Published in: Journal of veterinary internal medicine Vol. 24; no. 6; pp. 1249 - 1262
• Main Author: Morrison, W.B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA J.B. Lippincott 01-11-2010; Blackwell Publishing Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - history; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Cancer; Chemotherapy; Comparative; drugs; History; History, 15th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Humans; medicine; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - history; patients; politics; veterinary medicine
• ISSN: 0891-6640; 1939-1676
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0590.x

Treating cancer with drugs is an ancient art, but it is from discoveries made during and after the Second World War that real clinical success with cancer chemotherapy has occurred. Human and veterinary cancer chemotherapy have coevolved in the context of fascinating historical, political, and scientific events created by equally fascinating individuals. The rich historical fabric of science and medicine has been well described in books, manuscripts, classical art, and film. Many fascinating individuals, stories, and events have made small or highly significant contributions to cancer therapy that have culminated in the present standard of care for human and veterinary medicine. Rarely acknowledged are contributions of the cancer patients themselves who willingly submit to randomization in experimental trials and who often have only 2 goals: The first, of course, is to recover and the second is to help someone else by offering themselves as a data point. It is not my intention to describe and catalog every relevant discovery, every insight of genius, or to chronicle the years of careful scientific investigations of different tumor types or drug category. It is also not my purpose to present the history of any specific drug, although some of them are fascinating and all of them have a story. Finally, it is not my intention to review the entire history of medicine. My purpose is to introduce a small number of historical figures and events that played a significant role the history of cancer chemotherapy and to present them in the context of their contemporary times. Veterinary cancer chemotherapy has coevolved with human cancer chemotherapy and consequently the larger story is also our story.