Cancermay have been discovered and written about thousands of years ago.

However, the disease itself has actually existed since before the evolution of humans.

It was first documented in Egypt about 5,000 years ago.

Person studying a device

Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

This article will look at what we know about the history of cancer.

The Roman physician Celsus was the first to translate the word into the Latin word cancer.

20th Century to Present Day

The 20th century was an exciting time in cancer research.

Carcinogens,chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and better ways to diagnose cancer were all discovered in these years.

This bodes well for the future of cancer treatments and therapies.

Even decades ago, we had limited treatment options and less research.

With new research and discoveries occurring all the time, the future of cancer research is an exciting topic.

Cancer was treated throughout most of the 1800s using surgery to remove cancerous tumors and affected organs.

In 1838, a pathologist known as Johannes Muller showed that cancer cells are what make up cancer.

Before this, it was believed that cancer was made up of lymph.

It was first treated by surgery, although early physicians realized that cancer often came back after surgery.

The German chemist Paul Ehrlich started working with drugs to treat infectious diseases in the early 1900s.

Cancer is more common with age, and more people are living longer, increasing the risk of cancer.

Di Lonardo A, Nasi S, Pulciani S.Cancer: we should not forget the past.J Cancer.

2015;6(1):29-39. doi:10.7150/jca.10336

American Cancer Society.Understanding cancer causes: ancient times to present.

National Cancer Institute.Cancer: a historic perspective.

Bolli R.William Harvey and the discovery of the circulation of the blood: part II.Circ Res.

“J Intensive Care Soc.

2015;136(9):2022-2236. doi:10.1002/ijc.29134

Iida K, Proctor RN.

2018;27(e1):e3-e11.

doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-053971

Gerlich WH.Medical virology of hepatitis B: how it began and where we are now.Virol J.

2013;10(1):1-25. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-10-239

NIH Intramural Research Program.Gene therapy turns 30 years old.

Takaoka M, Miki Y.BRCA1 gene: function and deficiency.Int J Clin Oncol.

2018;23(1):36-44. doi:10.1007/s10147-017-1182-2

Okunade KS.Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer.J Obstet Gynaecol.

2020;40(5):602-608. doi:10.1080/01443615.2019.1634030

National Cancer Institute.The HPV vaccine.

National Cancer Institute.Harnessing the power of our immune systems to treat neuroblastoma: discovery of Ch14.18 immunotherapy.

National Cancer Institute.Lung cancer screening saves lives: the National Lung Screening Trial.

American Cancer Society.Understanding what cancer is: ancient times to present.

American Cancer Society: The Cancer Atlas.History of cancer.

American Cancer Society.History of cancer treatments: surgery.

2016;8(2):111-120. doi:10.1159/000443526

National Cancer Institute.Cancer statistics.