At the Allgemeines Krankenhaus, the teaching hospital in Vienna where he was appointed a professor, Billroth and his students now began to master and use a variety of techniques to remove tumors from the stomach, colon, ovaries, and esophagus, hoping to cure the body of cancer. The switch from exploration to cure produced an unanticipated challenge. A cancer surgeon’s task was to remove malignant tissue while leaving normal tissues and organs intact. But this task, Billroth soon discovered, demanded a nearly godlike creative spirit.
