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Stories

  • Article

The case of the cancerous stomach

Steak and schnitzel were on the menu again after Theodor Billroth successfully excised a woman’s stomach cancer in 1881. Remarkably, today’s surgeons still perform the same procedure, with slight modifications.

  • Article

The mystery of the malignant brain

In 1884 a neurologist successfully used a patient’s symptoms, plus a new kind of map, to locate a brain tumour. Discover how his best-laid plans for treatment worked out.

  • Book extract

The castration effect

Discover how testosterone – or the lack of it – affects the male body, from eunuch slaves to castrato singers, and on to hormone reduction in modern prostate cancer treatment.

  • Article

Chemotherapy-day drawings

Undergoing treatment for bowel cancer, artist Clare Smith produced around 70 abstract drawings while sitting in the chemotherapy chair. She reflects on how creativity can bring respite in a crisis.

All stories (13)

Images

  • Tumour, carotid body
  • Hypodermic and Tumour Syringes.
  • Tumour Necrosis Factor - cytokine
  • Tumour growing from the antrum
  • Tumour cell showing cellular components
  • Lantern slide: Congenital Tumour Sterno Mastoid.
  • Poor Hoo Loo and His Tumour, from The Lancet
  • Tumour growing from the palate of a young woman
  • Tumour in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain
  • Tumour attached to the cerebellar surface of a petrous bone
All images (519)

Catalogue

All works (1.9K)