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A comment on Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil War doctors. Parent comment

Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by tboerstad on Sunday June 10, 2018 @05:07AM (#17277268)
I thought chemotherapy was discovered as a side effect of chemical warfare during World War II?

My source is “The Emperor of all Maladies”

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Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by afarrell on Sunday June 10, 2018 @01:19PM (#17279056)
> chemical warfare during World War II

Aside from Italy's campaign of Ethiopia and Germany's campaign against a variety of civilian groups, I'm not familiar with chemical warfare being used in WWII. Was it discovered as a result of one of these?

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Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by wtallis on Sunday June 10, 2018 @02:07PM (#17279344)
Wikipedia has decent coverage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cancer_chemotherapy

Use of mustard gas in WW1 led to post-war research into its effects. By 1942 the US was conducting human trials of nitrogen mustard for treating lymphoma. Separately, a German air raid on US ships occupying a port in Italy during WW2 resulted in the release of mustard gas that was aboard one of the US ships. Autopsies and tissue samples from that incident also pointed to the potential medical uses.

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Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by agumonkey on Sunday June 10, 2018 @06:58AM (#17277558)
Sorry, i didn't mean the principle, the yew tree extract used for paclitaxel
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Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by Pxtl on Sunday June 10, 2018 @09:52AM (#17278108)
Wait, chemotherapy drugs were originally extracted from yews? Like, the little conifers with cup-shaped berries?
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Re:Inca civilization was better at skull surgery than Civil ... by agumonkey on Sunday June 10, 2018 @10:09AM (#17278174)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel

History section explains NCI screening in the 60s

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