The battle against cancer

How X-rays became a form of treatment
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?
Early successes

Irradiation of a cervical carcinoma using the Symmetry Apparatus, 1918

Bestrahlungskasten operated with a Multivolt apparatus, 1920

Depth and precision
Queen Elizabeth (known later as the Queen Mum) observes the Betatron at the International Congress of Radiology in London in 1950

Mevatron, 1975

Structure of a linear accelerator with a multileaf collimator for IMRT, 2004

ARTISTE system, 2011
