Hill's views on cancer treatment were that cancers should be radically excised aiming for cure, an approach in contrast to the mainstream view of leading European surgeons such as Alexander Monro primus, Samuel Sharp (c1709– 1778) and Henri François Le Dran (1685–1770) that cancers should only be minimally excised to relieve symptoms. He was able to review the outcome of surgery in 88 patients, 86 of whom recovered from the procedure and 77 of these enjoyed a normal expectation of life ‘according to the bills of mortality.’ These outcomes were much superior to the documented results of, for example, Alexander Monro primus. The cancers concerned were mainly skin cancers and a few breast cancers and Hill acknowledges the difficulty in dierentiating some cancers from benign lesions in the era before histological examination. He concludes that his results justify his recommendation that tumours, including ‘the most trifling,’ should be ‘cut entirely out.’Hill J. (1772), p. 49.
