Medicina Pulmonar e Respiratória

The Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: A Review of the History and the Present Prospects of Target Therapy

Abstract

Wilson I. B. Onuigbo

Background: Knowledge of the superior vena cava syndrome has been dated back to the 1757 work of William Hunter in the field of syphilis.

Method: The present paper deals with the history of the syndrome from 1833 to 1892 with reference to lung cancer.

Results: The old authorities provided such detailed data that lines for future research are derivable. Thus, much as expectations from the theory of lung cancer spread are those of superabundant secondaries, the reality is that particular cases exhibit secondaries which are merely adjacent to the main tumor.

Conclusion: It is hypothesized that, as this is Nature’s own model, translational laboratories should explore employing it as a human model.