[The death dates of Seishu Hanaoka's patients with breast cancer: a report of newly identified three patients].

Among 155 patients with breast cancer treated by Seishu Hanaoka the exact death dates of only five patients including Kan Aiya, the first to have received a tumour excision under general anesthesia are known to us and the remaining 149 patients remain unclarified concerning their death dates. The reason is mainly due to a fact that the descriptions of "Nyugan Seimei Roku" (A Name List of Breast Cancer Patients) are inaccurate. According to recent field survey on the burial records of several temples which have been described in the "Nyugan Seimei Roku," the author could clarify the death dates of two patients. The one is the wife of Kohfuku-ji Temple's priest who died on Feb 20, 1813, and the other in the wife of Honko-ji Temple's priest, died on July 8, 1834. Both survived 1 year 4 months, and 1 year 3 months, postoperatively. One more patient's death date is identified by chance. Consequently, the death dates of eight patients among 155 have been identified so far.