The battle against cancer

Cancer is a disease that people have known about for centuries. It is even mentioned in the medical case studies of the ancient Egyptian physician Imhotep. Under potential treatments for the disease, he simply remarks “none”. Hippocrates found his patients’ tumors to be reminiscent of crabs burrowed in the sand, inspiring him to name the notorious disease ‘Karkinos’ – the Greek word for crab. Later, the more common term was the Latin translation of the word: cancer. But what is cancer, and how does it develop?