Non small cell lung cancer historical perspective
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Trusha Tank, M.D.[2] Maria Fernanda Villarreal, M.D. [3]
Overview
Lung cancer was not identified as a disease until 1700. Morgagni GB, an Italian anatomist, first described lung cancer in his book "De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis (1761)". In 1761, Dr. John Hill of London, proved the relationship between the use of tobacco and cancer in his case study. In 1879, Harting and Hesse, two German physicians, first described the association between lung cancer and working in mines, and later radon gas was identified as the cause. In 1929, Fritz Lickint, a German physician first described the association between smoking and lung cancer. In 1965, U.S. Congress adopted the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969 as a preventive measure against lung cancer.
Historical Perspective
Discovery
- In 1761, Dr. John Hill of London, proved the relationship between the use of tobacco and cancer in his case study.[1]
- In between 1876 to 1938 miners working in silver, later nickel, cobalt, bismuth, and arsenic mines were dying from a disease called “Bergkrankheit” (mountain sickness) that lasted for about 25 years, which later confirmed was the lung cancer.[2]
- Later in 1924 German physics journal confirmed the cause behind the deaths in miners was radon gas.
- In 1879, Harting and Hesse, two German physicians, first described the association between lung cancer and working in mines.[3]
- In 1929, Fritz Lickint, a German physician first described the association between smoking and lung cancer.
- This discovery led to anti-smoking movement in Germany.
- In 1950, "The British Doctors Study" was the first solid epidemiological evidence of the link between lung cancer and smoking.[4]
- In 1965, the first preventive measures against lung cancer were implemented in The United States.[5]
- U.S. Congress adopted the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. These laws:
- Required a health warning on cigarette package.
- Banned cigarette advertising in the broadcasting media.
- Called for an annual report on the health consequences of smoking.
- In 1982, Geoffrey Cooper, an American pathologist first used the NIH 3T3 focus assay to identify the activated K-ras oncogene in lung cancer cell lines.[6]
- In 1987, it was established that a receptor on cancer cells called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays an important role in the growth and spread of non small cell lung cancer.[7]
References
- ↑ Redmond, Donald Eugene (1970). "Tobacco and Cancer: The First Clinical Report, 1761". New England Journal of Medicine. 282 (1): 18–23. doi:10.1056/NEJM197001012820105. ISSN 0028-4793.
- ↑ Witschi, H. (2001). "A Short History of Lung Cancer". Toxicological Sciences. 64 (1): 4–6. doi:10.1093/toxsci/64.1.4. ISSN 1096-6080.
- ↑ "Lung cancer in the Schneeberg mines: A reappraisal of the data reported by Harting and Hesse in 1879". Lung Cancer. 10 (5–6): 401. 1994. doi:10.1016/0169-5002(94)90770-6. ISSN 0169-5002.
- ↑ Doll R, Hill AB (1999). "Smoking and carcinoma of the lung. Preliminary report. 1950". Bull. World Health Organ. 77 (1): 84–93. PMC 2557577. PMID 10063665.
- ↑ "CDC - History of the Surgeon General's Report - Smoking & Tobacco Use".
- ↑ Der CJ, Krontiris TG, Cooper GM (1982). "Transforming genes of human bladder and lung carcinoma cell lines are homologous to the ras genes of Harvey and Kirsten sarcoma viruses". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79 (11): 3637–40. PMC 346478. PMID 6285355.
- ↑ Veale, D; Ashcroft, T; Marsh, C; Gibson, GJ; Harris, AL (1987). "Epidermal growth factor receptors in non-small cell lung cancer". British Journal of Cancer. 55 (5): 513–516. doi:10.1038/bjc.1987.104. ISSN 0007-0920.