What was the first record of the concept of cancer metastasizing? I’m going to assume that the we’ve known for a long time that cancer can spread by burrowing into surrounding tissues, but is any one person in particular credited with first noticing the “dandelion” nature of cancerous tumors?
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]
What was the first record of the concept of cancer metastasizing? I’m going to assume that the we’ve known for a long time that cancer can spread by burrowing into surrounding tissues, but is any one person in particular credited with first noticing the “dandelion” nature of cancerous tumors?
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The father of the “seed and soil” hypothesis of metastasis is <a href=“Milestones in Cancer”>Stephen Paget</a> (1855-1926). Prior to him, cancers that were in different tissues were thought to result from independent processes, rather than being ‘seeded’ from another site.
:smack: I’m slow today.
De-munged link
He wasn’t the first to note that cancer spreads, of course…but I see references of that all the way back to Hippocrates.
Many thanks!