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.
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.