The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee - Historical Notes Flashcards
What was the first form of chemotherapy, given in 1947, and who gave it? What disease was he trying to treat?
Aminopterin
Sidney Farber, pathologist
Leukemia among pediatric patients
(Fun fact: The name leukemia came 100 years earlier from another pathologist, Rudolph Virchow, in 1847)
Who discovered the epidemiological link between chimney sweeps in London and testicular cancer?
Percival Pott
When did AIDS (Formerly known as GRID) become widely known and feared during outbreaks among homosexual men in the U.S.?
The 1980s
Who was the 19th-century pathologist that grew frustrated with the incorrect attributions of disease to invisible forces (E.g. miasma, neuroses, bad humors, etc.) and set out to describe human disease in simple, cellular terms?
Rudolph Virchow
–And so, Cell Theory was born–
All living things are composed of cells.
All cells arise from pre-existing cells.
What did Virchow’s development of cell theory lead to?
He named the terms hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and neoplasia (Among many others), and he related all these terms back to cancerous growths as the ultimate form of pathological hyperplasia
Is there a major difference in signs and symptoms between acute and chronic leukemia?
Yes. Chronic leukemias are generally slower growing and persistent. Acute leukemias are more prone to flashes of fever, paroxysmal bleeding, etc.
Why do leukemic patients often get headaches?
Anemia leads to decreased oxygen-carrying capacity
When did the age of modern pharmacology begin?
The late 1940s
When were x-rays discovered?
The early 1900s
How long has cancer been the number two killer in the U.S. behind heart disease?
Since 1926
How did Farber come up with the idea of antifolates as a potential drug to treat cancer?
He tried treating leukemia with folic acid (As can be used for some macrocytic anemias) and was surprised at the huge increase in growth rate of the cancer cells.
So, upon viewing folic acid as a cancer accelerator, Farber made the logical assumption that an antifolate might be inhibitory to cancer growth.
When was the Nuremberg code for human experimentation developed?
1947
What was Hippocrates’ explanation for cancer?
An excess of black bile
This would hugely influence Galen’s later teachings
Where does the word oncology originate?
The Greek ‘onkos,’ meaning mass or load
Who was the young 16th-century physician who would steal bodies from the gallows/graves in order to give the first detailed maps of human anatomical structure?
Vesalius
When was anesthesia first invented?
What was the first substance used?
1846
Ether
In the mid-1800s (Soon after Pasteur began working with early germ theory), Dr. Lister used carbolic acid to do what?
As the first successful aseptic technique in cleaning surgical wounds to prevent infection
When did surgery emerge from the dark ages? What were some of the main advents of this awakening?
The mid-1800s
- First crude anesthesia (Ether)
- First aseptic salve (Carbolic acid)
- Dr. Billroth identified the safer surgical routes into the abdomen and other parts of the body
Who was the surgeon in the early 20th-century that created an extremely radical surgery to combat breast cancer?
Halsted
What strange effect of nitrogen mustard was noticed during WWI that made it of interest to oncologists?
Nitrogen mustard severely damages bone marrow and blood cells
Who founded the ACS and led much of the fund-raising war on cancer?
Mary Lasker (Starting in the 1940s)
Who were the two key players in the 20th-century in pushing cancer research into the national spotlight?
Mary Lasker and Sidney Farber
Who were the first two doctors to attempt a regimen of chemotherapy involving multiple drugs all at once? What were the drugs?
Emil Frei and Emil Freiriech (With Sidney Farber involved as well)
VAMP - Vincristine, Amethopterin, Mercaptopurine, and Prednisone
(They got the longest remissions yet - almost a year - before 95% of the children had relapsed. 5% did achieve full and lasting remission though.)
In the mid-1960s, what did Dr. Pinkel do in his ‘total therapy’ that was so effective in cancer treatment?
He gave combinations of 6-8 chemotherapeutic drugs intravenously, injected methotrexate directly into the CSF at periodic intervals, utilized heavy x-ray bombardment of the CNS, administered periodic antibiotics, and gave blood transfusions.
