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A Menace to the “Civilized” World

The menace of cancer is a worldwide phenomenon, affecting more or less alike, all civilized countries.

– Quote by Frederick Hoffman taken from his speech “Cancer Problem of Canada,” given at the Ontario Health Officers Association, Toronto, 1925

Montage consisting of a black and white photographic portrait and the cover page of a statistical report. The man is middle-aged, wearing a suit and a small beard. The report is titled : The mortality of cancer throughout the world.

(Left) Portrait of Frederick Hoffman, 1909 (Right) Cover page of the Prudential’s report concerning cancer, 1915

At the turn of the 20th century in North America and Europe, a marked increase in deaths linked to cancer had people worried. Frederick Hoffman, Head Statistician at the Prudential Insurance Company, was one of the first to sound the alarm. In 1915, he published The Mortality from Cancer throughout the World, in which he explained that cancer was a growing global problem.

Papyrus parchment with text written in hieratic, a simplified form of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Some passages are written in black ink and others in red ink.

Edwin Smith Papyrus, 1600 BCE

Yet cancer was not a new disease. The first recorded case of the illness dates back to Ancient Egypt; whereas the term “cancer” to describe localized tumours and the swelling of tissues was first used in Ancient Greece. In Hippocratic writings, the term karkinos or karkinoma meaning “crab” (cancer, in Latin) was used to describe the disease. The term was chosen in reference to the shape of the swollen veins surrounding breast tumours. In the 19th century, progress in medical science, like the use of microscopes to observe diseases, allowed doctors to diagnose cancer with greater precision.

Photomontage of two images. On the left is a black and white engraving depicting the profile of a bald man with a full beard. On the right is the title page of a book consisting of drawings and texts. The black and white drawings depict physicians performing various tasks. The text is in Latin and presents the title of the work, the author, the translation, and the publisher, Mercuriale.

(Left) Engraving of a bust of Hippocrates, 1638 (Right) Anthology of Hippocratic writings, 1588

Despite these advances, the root causes of cancer remained mysterious, giving rise to all kinds of alarmist theories. For example, Toronto doctor John Ferguson from claimed that the lifestyles prevalent in “civilized” countries were more conducive to the development of cancer. Others went as far to say that the disease was a sign of Western civilization’s downfall. Conflicting ideas, revealing of the racist tendencies of the upper-class, turned cancer into a social problem as well. The issue was made even more important by the fact that the medical community had very few resources, if any, to tackle it effectively.

At the time, only the most aggressive surgeries would prove useful to fight cancer. However, the drastic nature of such procedures was driving many patients away from treatment altogether. The revolutionary medical properties of a new radioactive element offered a glimmer of hope to doctors everywhere in what until now appeared to be a losing battle.

Montage of two images. On the left is a black and white photograph of an elderly man with glasses in profile. He is seated and wearing a three-piece suit. On the right is a black and white drawing depicting a surgical operation on a naked upper body. The right breast is being cut by scissors and a scalpel to show the procedure of a complete mastectomy. The rest of the body and face are covered with sheets.

(Left) Dr. William Stewart Halsted, 1922 (Right) Medical representation of a radical mastectomy, 1924

A Glimmer of Hope?