1949

first effective cancer drug, Mustargen, effective in treating lymphomas, comes to market (S. Smith II, ch 4). David Karnofsky and Joseph Burchenal, working out of NYC’s Memorial Hospital, create Karnofsky performance status scale, still used by oncologists to assess cancer patients’ health, specifically, dose tolerance and patients’ ability to perform normal activity (S. Smith [II], loc 2422-2427).