Malignant Growth: Creating the Modern Cancer Research Establishment, 1875-1915

323 Pages·2018·2.414 MB·English

by  Alan I Marcus

MALIGNANT GROWTH

MALIGNANT GROWTH
CREATING THE
MODERN CANCER
RESEARCH
ESTABLISHMENT
1875–1915
ALAN I MARCUS
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA PRESS
TUSCALOOSA
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0380
uapress.ua.edu
Copyright © 2018 by the University of Alabama Press
All rights reserved.
Inquiries about reproducing material from this work should be addressed to the University
of Alabama Press.
Typeface: Scala Pro
Cover image: Rendering of a malignant cell;  courtesy of 123RF.com, © lightwise
Cover design: David Nees
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marcus, Alan I, 1949– author.
Title: Malignant growth : creating the modern cancer research establishment, 1875–1915 /
Alan I Marcus.
Description: Tuscaloosa : The University of Alabama Press, [2018] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017038244| ISBN 9780817319793 (cloth) | ISBN 9780817391775 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cancer—Research—History—19th century. | Cancer—Research—
History—20th century.
Classification: LCC RC275 .M37 2018 | DDC 362.19699/40072—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017038244
To Jean, my partner in everything; I fail way too often to tell her how
much I admire, adore, and appreciate her.

contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction: On Institutions and Institutional Change
1
1. “Bacteriology” Is Destiny: Cancer, Certainty, and Uncertainty in the Late
Nineteenth Century
13
2. Making Something So within a Nationalist Context: Cancer
Laboratories, 1899–1905
32
3. Getting to Work, 1900–1905
51
4. Inklings of Dis-Ease: The Cancer Problem, 1905–1910
69
5. Return to Babel, 1905–1910
98
6. Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Science, 1910–1915
123
7. The Euphoria and Despair of Chemotherapy, 1910–1915
143
8. Better Living through Biochemistry: Experimental vs. Spontaneous
Cancer, 1910–1915
156
9. Losing Control: An Inflamed Cancer Research Dilemma, 1911–1915
179
10. All Cancer Is Local: The End of the War and the Beginning of a
New Era, 1910–1915
203
Epilogue: And the Band Plays On
229
Notes
233
Bibliography
301
Index
309

acknowledgments
I incurred many debts as I researched and wrote this book. The fine, under-
appreciated Iowa State University Library gave me my own key for 24-hour
access, a room of my own, and use of a Xerox machine so that I could go
through hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pages of the various peri-
odicals housed in the storage facility there. In the year that I was there—I
had no teaching duties, a perk of being the institution’s first Distinguished
Humanities Scholar—I managed to make over 33,000 photocopies. I thank
the then-chair of the history department, George McJimsey, for paying for
the xeroxing. I also want to acknowledge my children, Gregory and Joce-
lyn, and my late father-in-law, John Wasieleski, each of whom was punished
by being required to do some of the actual photocopying in the library. My
father-in-law’s “crime” was making his sons and sons-in-law stack wood in
one place on one week and then move it all back to the original place the
next, because he enjoyed being in the woods. When I discovered the ruse,
he told me if I ever needed help, he’d be glad to pitch in. After I had him
xerox, he never brought up moving wood again.
Iowa State’s participation in the HathiTrust project helped me obtain
sources I otherwise would not have been able to access. My status as an
emeritus professor there has enabled me to continue to use this otherwise
unavailable source, even after I relocated to Mississippi State University.
The Interlibrary Loan staff at my new institution provided significant help
with hard-to-find documents.
Niklas Trzaskowski, a PhD student in our history graduate program at
Mississippi State, helped with the translations of German texts. My spotty
knowledge of French was adequate to handle translations from that lan-
guage, bolstered by an ample assist from Google Translate.
I asked Matt Lavine and Alexandra Hui, two of my colleagues at Mis-
sissippi State, and two of my PhD students here, Kasey Mosley and Katie
Sullivan, to read the introduction. They provided helpful, insightful com-
ments. I also sketched out the project to the CHASES Experiment Station, a
consortium of faculty and students at Mississippi State interested in history
of agriculture, science, and the environment. The discussion was spirited.
Beth Motherwell and other members of the University of Alabama Press
remain a pleasure to work with. Of special note were the comments of an
anonymous referee, who helped make this a better book.
I was asked some time ago why I decided to write a book on cancer.