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History Of Cancer Essay

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The history of Cancer
Cancer has plagued the United States for many years and continues to be a large concern. The most common type of cancer is breast cancer, followed by lung and prostate cancer (Cancer.gov., n. d). The United States currently has an estimated expenditure of almost 125 billion dollars in 2010 and that number is expected to exceed 150 billion dollars by 2020 (Cancer.gov., n. d). The advancement of technological changes over the years has provided many treatment options being used today.
Evidence of cancer can be dated back as far as 70 to 80 million years and was thought to be caused by acts of gods (The Cancer Atlas, n. d.). In the early history cancer, prior to 1900, treatment and management of cancer was limited. Early in the history of cancer, around 1600 BCE, the Egyptians used remedies such as cauterization, and used potions made of dates and pig brains to treat certain types of cancer (The Cancer Atlas, n. d.). Around …show more content…

d). Early detection through screenings, and prevention are some of the main focuses in battling cancer and routine mammograms and prostate exams are included in most annual physical checkups today. In 1923 George Papanicolaou discovered the first cancer screening the pap smear by accident; the test was supposed to be a way to recognize a woman’s menstrual cycle, but turned out to be a way to detect cervical cancer (Cancer.gov., n. d). Chemotherapy is another form of treatment which made its way into the twenty-first century. This form of treatment was founded during the World War II era with the discovery of nitrogen mustard, the fist chemotherapy drug which was used to treat those in the military who had been affected by mustard gas (Cancer.gov., n.

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