Herbert Lumley Snow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1847 |
| Died | 20 November 1930[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Surgeon, medical writer |
Herbert Lumley Snow (1847 – 20 November 1930) was an English surgeon,anti-vivisectionist, cancer researcher and medical writer.
Snow graduated fromUniversity of London in 1869 with First Class Honours in Medicine, Forensic Medicine, and Midwifery.[2] He obtained his M.D. and membership of theRoyal College of Surgeons of England in 1871.[2] He was a surgeon at South Staffordshire General Hospital and Birmingham General Dispensary.[2]
He was appointed to the Cancer Hospital inBrompton, London in 1876.[2] This was the first hospital in the world specifically founded to treat cancer patients. It was renamed theRoyal Marsden Hospital in 1910. Snow worked at the Cancer Hospital as a staff surgeon until 1905. He was a cancer researcher who lectured and wrote extensively on the topic.[2]
Snow is known for his research onmelanoma. In 1892, he proposed melanoma to be treated byexcision and anticipatory gland excision which was controversial because this was before the acceptance of electivelymph node dissections.[3][4] In 1893, Snow conducted the first epidemiological study linkingcancer anddepression.[5] He studied 250 women with uterine and breast cancer. He found that "of 250 women suffering from cancer of the mammae and uterus... 171 had expressed history of an immediate antecedent of trouble often in very poignant form, as the loss of a near relative."[5] In 1896, Snow developed theBrompton cocktail made from a combination of morphine and cocaine to relieve pain in cancer patients.[6][7]
He died on 20 November 1930 inSt Leonards-on-Sea.[2]
Snow was agerm theory denialist,anti-vaccinationist and opponent ofcircumcision andvivisection.[2] In 1908, he was appointed surgeon to theNational Anti-Vivisection Hospital in Battersea.[2] Snow was chairman of the British Section of the International Medical Anti-Vivisection Association.[1]