Man vs. Brain cancer

Braincancerphoto.jpg

So here's a great quote.

"In the first decade of the 20th century, Harvey Cushing became the father of effective neurosurgery," the medical historian Michael Bliss wrote in Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery. "Ineffective neurosurgery had many fathers."

The New York Times has an amazing account of Cushing's life and work, explaining how this pioneering surgeon managed to save victims of brain cancer at a time when anesthesia meant a localized dose of Novocain (if that), there were no antibiotics, and it was even impossible to know where his patients' tumors were located before he opened their heads.

Perhaps most amazing is a little fact buried down in the meat of the article—in the fight against brain cancer, Cushing's advancements were a sharp, quick spike in successful treatment that—new technology aside—we haven't really been able to duplicate since.

Indeed, comparatively little progress has been made since Dr. Cushing's time in actually prolonging life in brain-cancer patients. "It is fascinating how far we've come in terms of technology but not really in terms of progress for most malignancies," Dr. Spencer said. "Everything we've done in the last 100 years has changed the progress for malignant brain tumors very little, extending life maybe eight months to two years."

Slightly unrelated: I love this photo—taken from Cushing's collection of patient photographs. Mainly because it illustrates how shaving someone's head can suddenly make them look much, much more modern. This woman dates to somewhere between 1902 and 1933. And yet, with a shaved head, she looks like somebody I saw at the coffee shop last weekend.

New York Times: Collection of Cancerous Brains Helps Show Neurosurgury's Rise

(Via dosmonos)