Principles of chemotherapy

Abstract

During World War II, sailors who were accidentally exposed to nitrogen mustard following the explosion of a ship developed marrow and lymphoid hypoplasia. 1 This serendipitous discovery led to the first clinical trial conducted in 1942 using nitrogen mustard in patients with malignant lymphomas at Yale University.2 This marked the beginning of a new era of research in the quest for effective and safe drugs used in cancer chemotherapy. © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.