Constructing Cancers - 1945-2000

About the Project

Our group is funded by a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant to study the history of cancer research and cancer services, especially in Britain, since 1945.

Background

Cancer, the 'dread disease', is the disease of the twentieth century. One in three people are affected by a form of cancer at some stage in their lives. Associated with disfigurement, death and suffering, caused by both the disease itself and sometimes by the treatments, cancer is feared more than any other disease. Cancer and cardiovascular diseases have replaced infectious diseases as the dominant causes of death and disability in the developed world (and increasingly also in developing countries); and as Susan Sontag has argued, cancer has replaced tuberculosis as the dominant disease metaphor, the disease that is foremost in people's imagination.

The history of cancer is also closely linked to the emergence of institutions that are central to modern biomedicine. Since the early twentieth century cancer is associated with science and progress. Since World War II, the goal of understanding and defeating cancer has motivated much basic cell biology and molecular genetics research. Belief that science will find the cure for cancer seems to be the antidote to the great fears that surround the disease.

Manchester has long been at the forefront of cancer research and therapy. The Christie Cancer Hospital was founded in 1892 as the Cancer Pavilion and Home for Incurables. It joined in 1931 with the Holt Radium Institute (originally based at the Manchester Royal Infirmary) and became world-famous for radiotherapy. Under Ralston Paterson and his wife, Edith, the Christie established its own research programme and became a model cancer research and treatment centre. The photographs below show the hospital and the Radium Institute in the 1950s.

Aims

The work of our group, which is led by John Pickstone, is an attempt to make sense of both local stories and international contexts. You can find out more from John's article on 'Configurations of Cancer Treatments through the Twentieth Century' in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine.

We focus on four areas in the history of cancer research and therapy:

Emm Barnes looks at the history of childhood cancers and patients' experiences of treatment, and at the notion of 'cure' (as opposed to remission: see her article on 'Caring and Curing' in the European Journal of Cancer Care).

Childhood cancers and cancers of blood and lymph have in many ways been a success story of modern biomedicine, and Helen Valier (now at University of Houston) is interested in the institutional history of this success, looking at the history of multi-centre clinical trials in the US and in Britain.

In contrast with leukaemias and lymphomas, lung cancer is often associated with hopelessness, and Carsten Timmermann looks at the history of the stigma that some say is attached to lung cancer due to its links with smoking, and the effects this may have had on therapy and research (see his article on lung cancer clinical trials in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine).

Elizabeth Toon (now at the University of Durham) examines the history of breast cancer treatment in postwar Britain; her work also considers how health education and patient activism have shaped public understandings about and everyday experiences of the disease (see her article on 'Cancer as the General Population Knows it' in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine).

Our work on cancer brings us into contact with many doctors, nurses and other staff, and with patient groups and activists. It links us with fellow historians in several countries, including at the National Cancer Institute and the National Library of Medicine, USA, where we jointly sponsored a conference in 2004. Our work on a model disease is proving a model for historical collaboration and involvement. We are keen to link with other researchers who share our interests.

Find out about conferences

Find out about publications

Contact

Dr Carsten Timmermann
Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine
University of Manchester
Simon Building
Brunswick Street
Manchester M13 9PL
Phone +44-(0)161-275 5850
Fax +44-(0)161-275 5699
Or send us Email

Team

• Professor John Pickstone
• Dr Emm Barnes
• Dr Carsten Timmermann
• Dr Elizabeth Toon
• Dr Helen Valier
  (now at the University of Houston)