6 These ancient physicians postulated that the cessation of menstruation was somehow linked to cancer in fact it probably had to do with the association of cancer with old age. 200 to the accumulation of black bile in the blood, concluded that it was a systemic disease. 5 Galen, attributing breast cancer in A.D. 4 His stipulation of leaving a wide margin of excision and only removing tumours of limited extent, foreshadows the oncological principles of contemporary surgical practice. Leonides of Alexandria, in 1 st century A.D., preserving the Greek traditions, boldly and skillfully detailed his approach of incision and cautery. of the imbalance of humours (blood, phlegm, and yellow and black bile) as a cause of disease, and his classic descriptions of the progressive stages of breast cancer, represent early hypotheses on the cause of cancer. 2 Carcinoma ( karkinoma), scirrhous (hard, Greek skirros) and cacoethes (malignant disease, Greek kakoethes) in the medical lexicon owe their origins to Hellenistic writings. 1 In ancient Greece, a divinity was exhorted to offer relief from breast maladies, as evidenced by votive offerings in the shape of breasts in Greek temples that housed Asclepius, the god of medicine. A case was deemed incurable if the disease was “cool to touch, bulging and spread all over the breast”. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, dating back to 3,000–2,500 B.C., and possibly attributable to Imhotep (the Egyptian physician-architect), provides authentic accounts of breast cancer. It is not surprising that written records and illustrations of breast cancer date back to antiquity since the location of the organ permitted easy identification.
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