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How did the disease cancer get its name?
Best answer: Hippocrates described several kinds of cancers. He called benign tumours oncos, Greek for swelling, and malignant tumours carcinos, Greek for crab or crayfish. This strange choice of name probably comes from the appearance of the cut su
Best answer:
Hippocrates described several kinds of cancers. He called benign tumours oncos, Greek for swelling, and malignant tumours carcinos, Greek for crab or crayfish. This strange choice of name probably comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumour, with a roundish hard center surrounded by pointy projections, vaguely resembling the silhouette of a crab. He later added the suffix -oma, Greek for swelling, giving the name carcinoma. Today, carcinoma is the medical term for a malignant tumor derived from epithelial cells. It is Celsus who translated carcinos into the Latin cancer, also meaning crab. Galen used "oncos" to describe all tumours, the root for the modern word oncology. [1
Best answer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cancer#hist...
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