Tracing a Treatment in New Haven's hospital

The entwined histories of New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine includes evolving cancer treatments. This chart shows four methods of radiotherapy from the early 1900s through to today.

A pamphlet, given to patients nearly a century ago, explained the use of what were then called X-rays. It said, in part: "Twenty-five years ago physicians used the X-ray principally to diagnose bone fractures and dislocations, and to locate foreign bodies...Today, the X-ray has become indispensable for examination in a wide variety of diseases, including many which produce subtle changes in the internal organs and tissues of the body. It is also used in the actual treatment of a more limited number of conditions [including cancer]...in the pat year it was used in examination of about three-fourths of patients who came to the New Haven Hospital and Dispensary."

A 1963 New Haven Medical Center article said, in part: "A new 6 million electron volt x-ray machine, one of about a half dozen medical machines of its kind in existence, has been installed at the Yale New Haven Medical Center and is in use for treating patients with tumors, cancer, and allied diseases. The new linear accelerator is considered "ideal" from the standpoint of generating, controlling, and distributing optimum amount of energy for deep radiation therapy...."