# when was cancer discovered? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243 "2001-11-03T01:37:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/1 "2001-11-03T01:37:28Z")
and also are there reports of it before it was discovered? eg - symptoms which match cancer. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/2 "2001-11-03T01:45:36Z")
It used to be called the “wasting disease”. You could search for that. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/3 "2001-11-03T01:47:36Z")
Well, the reason it’s called cancer is because it looks crab-like (you know, like the crab Cancer in the Zodiac?) in that it can have lots of projections off the main mass. That’s the kind of observation that modern people really wouldn’t tend to use as a naming basis. Just for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/4 "2001-11-03T01:48:41Z")
I swear I had not yet seen [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=96878) thread when I posted just now. ---
**Author:** ![Jockstrap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5a626/32.png) [@Jockstrap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jockstrap)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/5 "2001-11-03T01:50:58Z")
Readers Digest (November 2001) says that the Greeks named it cancer because it looked like a crab. Jockstrap ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/6 "2001-11-03T01:51:09Z")
Smeghead living up to your name there. what does that thread answer? nothing. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/7 "2001-11-03T02:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Niobium Knight \* > \*\*Smeghead living up to your name there. what does that thread answer? nothing. \*\* Is this supposed to be a joke of some kind or are your meds running low? If not you’ve got some major 'tude dissing someone who tried to answer your question then referenced another, similar thread relating to his answer. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/8 "2001-11-03T03:35:13Z")
This: > [@](#): > > That’s the kind of observation that modern people really wouldn’t tend to use as a naming basis. Just for what it’s worth. was meant to help narrow it down, no matter how slightly. Terribly sorry it didn’t live up to your high standards. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/9 "2001-11-03T05:42:25Z")
Okay, so [this page](http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/pharm/chemo/readings/timeline.htm) talks about ancient Egyptians trying to deal with tumors: > [@](#): > > Egyptian writings mention both benign and malignant tumors. Castor oil (made from the seeds of Castor beans), pigs’ ears, and other animal parts were among the ingredients in the treatments these texts describe for fighting tumors. One of the earliest known physicians, Imhotep (2600s BC), was an extremely powerful figure in ancient Egypt. Now, try not to spazz out too hard, **NK,** but I’m going to post a quote from that site that mentions the whole cancer/crab thing, but it shows that “cancer” first became a diagnosis in the time of Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.). > [@](#): > > Hippocrates gave the name karkinos and karkinoma (the ancient Greek words for “crab”) to a group of diseases that he studied, including cancers of the breast, uterus, stomach, and skin. The hard center and spiny projections of the tumors Hippocrates observed reminded him of the crustacean. “Cancer” means “crab” or “crayfish” in Latin. Indeed, cancer became a recognized diagnosis in this time period. I admit I haven’t seen that many tumors yet, but none of the ones I’ve seen have reminded me of a crab in any way. Of course, none of the constellations look like a crab to me, either. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/10 "2001-11-03T05:44:41Z")
[hijack] Why would it be called wasting disease? It does the opposite of wasting, it’s TOO much flesh… right?[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/11 "2001-11-03T05:59:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*[hijack] Why would it be called wasting disease? It does the opposite of wasting, it’s TOO much flesh… right?[/hijack] \*\* Well, yeah it is, but it sucks up all the nutrition your body needs, then you just waste away. People with untreated or late-state cancer are very emaciated. Usually, your body dies when it can’t feed the tumor anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/12 "2001-11-03T06:15:40Z")
Unexplained weight loss is one of the classic symptoms of cancer, like **fandango** said. I saw a picture somewhere the other day of a guy who was dying from stomach cancer and he was about as skinny and emaciated as they get. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/13 "2001-11-03T06:48:42Z")
Another hijack… I was reading a Sci-Fan novel and one of the Khans (after Gehgis) was dying of ‘a demon within him’ and the character knew it was cancer. Any record of one of the Khans dying like this? ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/14 "2001-11-03T08:03:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Another hijack… I was reading a Sci-Fan novel and one of the Khans (after Gehgis) was dying of ‘a demon within him’ and the character knew it was cancer. Any record of one of the Khans dying like this? \*\* It’s hard to find the answer on Google because there are so many pages that mention _The Conqueror,_ the movie in which John Wayne played Genghis Khan and, as legend has it, A-bomb tests near the set caused the actors to all die from cancer. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/15 "2001-11-03T08:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bob Scene \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > > \*\*Another hijack… I was reading a Sci-Fan novel and one of the Khans (after Gehgis) was dying of ‘a demon within him’ and the character knew it was cancer. Any record of one of the Khans dying like this? \*\* > > It’s hard to find the answer on Google because there are so many pages that mention _The Conqueror,_ the movie in which John Wayne played Genghis Khan and, as legend has it, A-bomb tests near the set caused the actors to all die from cancer. \*\* Do you think Wayne’s chain smoking five packs of cigarettes a day might also have had a wee bit to do with his death by lung cancer. Nahhhh… it had to be the A-bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/16 "2001-11-03T11:06:16Z")
sorry Smeghead i was in a bad mood and didnt realise your previous reply had offered an explaination. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/17 "2001-11-03T15:46:31Z")
Apology accepted. So should we, like, hug or something? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-cancer-discovered/91243/18 "2001-11-03T16:36:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*Apology accepted. So should we, like, hug or something? \*\* Nope. I think you need a full out kiss over this one :D.