Read the text and fill in the blanks with the past of the verbs in brackets.

History of oncology

With the current hospital marketing emphasis on “cutting-edge” new technologies, it is easy to
imagine that the field of oncology arose (arise) in recent decades from peer-reviewed medical
evidence drawn from modern biomolecular sciences and digital technologies. However, as most
students of medicine are aware, the field of oncology is actually one of the older branches of
medicine, and skeletons showing evidence of rudimentary attempts at surgical management of
certain apparently malignant bone tumors date from the Neolithic Age. Egyptian texts described
(describe) cauterization of tumorous deposits in the breast with a “fire drill” followed by
application of adjuvant postoperative herbal therapies. Hippocrates, the classical Greek “Father
of Medicine,” taught (teach) that cancer was the result of too much black bile, and many scholars
now believe that either Hippocrates himself (or perhaps Paul of Aegina) first described (describe)
cancer as a dangerous and potentially lethal “crab” ( carcinos in Greek) condition, perhaps to
recall the crab-like appearance of advanced cases of breast cancer with engorged mammary
vasculature.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, it became (become) more acceptable for doctors to dissect
bodies to discover the cause of death. The German professor Wilhelm Fabry believed ( believe)
that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a mammary duct. The Dutch professor Francois
de la Boe Sylvius, a follower of Descartes, considered (consider) that all disease was the
outcome of chemical processes, and that acidic lymph fluid was (be) the cause of cancer. His
contemporary Nicolaes Tulp thought (think) that cancer was a poison that slowly spreads, and
concluded that it was (be) contagious.

The first cause of cancer was identified by British surgeon Percivall Pott, who discovered
(discover) in 1775 that cancer of the scrotum was (be) a common disease among chimney
sweeps. The work of other individual physicians led (lead) to various insights, but when
physicians started (start) working together they could (can) draw firmer conclusions.

With the widespread use of the microscope in the 18th century, it was discovered that the 'cancer
poison' spread (spread) from the primary tumor through the lymph nodes to other sites
("metastasis"). This view of the disease was first formulated by the English surgeon Campbell De
Morgan between 1871 and 1874. The use of surgery to treat cancer had ( have) poor results due
to problems with hygiene. The renowned Scottish surgeon Alexander Monro saw (see) only 2
breast tumor patients out of 60 surviving surgery for two years. In the 19th century, asepsis
improved surgical hygiene and as the survival statistics went up (go up), surgical removal of the
tumor became (become) the primary treatment for cancer. With the exception of William Coley
who in the late 19th century felt (feel) that the rate of cure after surgery had been higher before
asepsis (and who injected (inject) bacteria into tumors with mixed results), cancer became
(become) dependent on the individual art of the surgeon at removing a tumor. The underlying
cause of his results might be that infection stimulates the immune system to destroy left tumor
cells. During the same period, the idea that the body was made up of various tissues, that in turn
were made up of millions of cells, ceased (cease) the humor-theories about chemical imbalances
in the body.

After you have completed the text above, ask six questions (simple and wh-questions)
with their corresponding answers. Then you will ask them to your classmates of other
groups.
1. Did professor Wilhelm Fabry believe that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a
mammary duct?
Yes, he did.
2. Did surgeon Percivall Pott first describe the first cause of cancer?
Yes, he did.
3. Why did the use of surgery to treat cancer have poor results?
Because hygiene problems arose
4. Which century improved surgical asepsis?
The asepsis improved in the 19th century.
5. Did the oncology field arise in recent decades?
No, it didn’t
6. Did the dissection of bodies become more acceptable to discover the cause of a person's
death in the 16th and 17th centuries?
Yes, it did.