The treatment of malignant tumors by repeated inoculations of erysipelas : with a report of ten original cases / by William B. Coley.

  • William Coley
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The treatment of malignant tumors by repeated inoculations of erysipelas : with a report of ten original cases / by William B. Coley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    upon the tumor of the groin, at the Post-Graduate Hospital. The tumor was found to consist principally of degenerated glandular tissue, but no pus was present. The microscopical examination was unsatisfactory. While putting on a spica bandage I discovered a large flat tumor in the lumbar region of the back, measuring six inches by four, elliptical in shape, and projecting from the normal surface about one-half to one- inch. It was very hard and nodular, presenting numerous tuberosities. Its color varied from a bright red to a plum color. It was freely mov¬ able, and was evidently situated entirely in the skin and subcutaneous tissue. The patient stated that it had been there five years, but having caused him little inconvenience, he had paid slight attention to it. In Fig. 2. Sarcoma of back and groin. Entire disappearance after erysipelas inoculation. (Coley.) fact, his knowledge of pathology was so crude that he had regarded it as “ simple hemorrhoids,” his idea of the latter disease having been gained from an afflicted friend. Other than an indefinite history of injury in the army in 1870, no cause could be found for the tumor. Soon after leaving the hospital Dr. Geo. H. Fox kindly saw the case with me, and his diagnosis was sarcoma of the skin. A photograph was taken at the time, February, 1891, shown in the accompanying cut. Shortly afterward I removed two sections of the tumor under cocaine, for microscopical examination, and the diagnosis of sarcoma was con¬ firmed by the careful examination of Dr. Farquhar Ferguson, the path¬ ologist of the New York Hospital. At this date, February, 22,1892, the tumor of the groin had already recurred and was growing rapidly. The tumor of the back was also increasing in size. In view of the rapid re¬ currence in the groin and the large size of the tumor of the back the patient was advised, both by Dr. Bull and myself, to have erysipelas tried. After some deliberation he consented, and on the 21st of April, 1892, I began inoculations.
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