Compression as a treatment of cancer, a historical survey

Compression in medicine goes far back in history. In ancient Rome and during the Renaissance compression by means of leaden plates was a well-known treatment of cancer. Compression flourished particularly in the first half of the 19th century, in Great Britain encouraged by the publications of Young and Arnott and Walshe, in France especially by the work of Récamier. Around 1850 this treatment fell into discredit: on the one hand because of improved surgical possibilities, on the other because not all the alleged cures concerned true malignancies. The results were, on the whole, disappointing. Quite recently, compression re-appeared as a treatment of carcinoma of the urinary bladder.