Surgical treatment of head and neck cancers in the ancient world.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This paper attempts to chart the history of head and neck cancers and their surgical treatment, starting from ancient Egypt and concluding with Galen. CONCLUSION: The ancient Egyptians appear to have treated head and neck cancers with local applications. The ancient Greek corpus contains a reference to treating pharyngeal carcinoma with cautery, but the description is too vague to establish the diagnosis conclusively. The ancient Romans moved away from surgical treatments, with Galen establishing a prejudice against surgery that would last through the Middle Ages.