Medicine and oncology. An illustrated history. Vol. 9: Evolution and successes of cancer chemotherapy

We have known about cancer since the earliest times, and man has always tried to eliminate or cure it with the means at his disposal. Before chemotherapy, he used medicinal herbs and chemicals of various kinds, with results that were generally of little or no efficacy. Modern chemotherapy originated in the early 1940s and is linked to studies conducted in the United States on several toxic substances in anticipation of their possible use by the Germans for the purposes of warfare. The first drug was nitrogen mustard, which in combination chemotherapy regimens proved capable of curing certain neoplasms. The development of other agents contributed significantly to curative drug combinations, greatly increasing the number of advanced cancers curable by chemotherapy (childhood acute leukaemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, testicular tumours, certain paediatric solid tumours). In other cases, if a definitive cure could not be achieved, patients' survival was considerably prolonged, turning a disease generally characterised by a rapidly lethal course into a chronic one. These results were achieved thanks to the perspicacity and perseverance of numerous young researchers; the conduct of thorough clinical trials; the development of the rational basis for chemotherapy and drugs that counteract its side effects; and the availability of accurate statistical analyses. A significant contribution has also been made by nanotechnology. Volume IX of Medicine and Oncology is an account of the extraordinary and fascinating development of cancer chemotherapy, the spirit of research and the difficulties encountered, and the achievement of often unexpected successes. As always, with the usual accessible style and numerous explanatory figures.