3 ms·

I thought chemotherapy was discovered as a side effect of chemical warfare during World War II? My source is “The Emperor of all Maladies”

• agumonkey 8y ago
  Sorry, i didn't mean the principle, the yew tree extract used for paclitaxel
  • Pxtl 8y ago
    Wait, chemotherapy drugs were originally extracted from yews? Like, the little conifers with cup-shaped berries?
    • agumonkey 8y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paclitaxel History section explains NCI screening in the 60s
• afarrell 8y ago
  > 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?
  • wtallis 8y ago
    Wikipedia has decent coverage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cancer_chemotherapy 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.