Thor Stenbeck

"Stenbeck's X-ray Institute" 1899, Thor Stenbeck on the left

Skin cancer cured by Stenbeck's treatment, left before therapy 1899, right 1928

Thor Stenbeck (* 1864 ; † 1914 ) was a Swedish radiation therapist and pioneer of Swedish radiology . Stenbeck led in 1899 the world's first successful radiotherapy of skin cancer by.

In February 1896, Stenbeck opened Scandinavia's first so-called X-ray institute in Stockholm . He started x-ray courses and wrote books and papers on the subject.

Skull x-ray 1896 with the bullet in the back of the head

In September 1896 he succeeded in taking x-rays of the skull of a gunshot wounded. A revolver bullet had penetrated the left eye during an assassination attempt and got stuck in the back of the head. With the help of Stenbeck's X-ray images, the ball could be located and surgically removed without any problems. The case was probably the first in medical history in which a bullet was removed from a person's brain after localization with x-rays.

Stenbeck was aware of the dangers of X-ray radiation on living organisms at an early stage and demonstrated the radiation damage to the skin and nails of a person who had publicly assisted in demonstrating X-ray equipment. But it wasn't long before the medical importance of X-rays was recognized.

In 1899 he managed to treat a woman with skin cancer on her nose. This was the first time in the world that skin cancer could be cured with the help of X-rays. The treatment took place in Stenbeck's X-ray Institute in Stockholm. The patient was irradiated 99 times during nine months. Almost 30 years later, in 1928, she was presented at an X-ray conference and was still symptom-free.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Akademiska sjukhuset Uppsala ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Röntgenkronologi ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

swell

• Konung Gustaf V: s jubilee clinic in Stockholm. Brochure published for the 60th anniversary of the Jubilee Fund 1988, pages 4–5. (Swedish)

Web links

Commons : Thor Stenbeck  - collection of images, videos and audio files