The History of Cancer Radiotherapy
When Rontgen and Becquerel discovered radiation and x – rays during the late 1800s it stimulated the development and research for radiation application. Also, during the turn of the century, Marie Curie received a Nobel Prize for her work and research on radioactive elements. Coincidently, based on several studies at that time, physicians and scientist discovered that radiation exposure slowed and regressed the development of several cancerous tumors. At that time experts could not find the cause of this phenomena even though based on historical data, the first oncologist treated successfully the first cancer patient in 1898. During this early era of radiotherapy, it was mainly used to treat superficial types of cancer. Interestingly enough, most cancer cases treated at this time had a tendency to reoccur due to the inconsistent specification of radiation application procedures and the huge doses of radiation the patient was exposed to. The development of [...]