Maad Rayan Publishing Company Biomedicine Advances 3080-0382 3 4 2026 10 01 Mapping Cancer Concepts in Persian Medicine: A Qualitative Content Analysis and Conceptual Comparison with Contemporary Oncology 140 148 10.34172/bma.1099 EN Zahra Sharifan https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2044-9915 Maryam Moridi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6209-6971 Fatemeh Alijaniha https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6607-0640 Farzaneh Ghaffari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5424-4348 Mohsen Naseri https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9239-768X Journal Article 10.34172/bma.1099 2026 08 23 2026 09 16 Introduction: Cancer has been described in Persian Medicine (PM) texts for centuries; however, the ways in which cancer was defined, explained, clinically described, and managed across major historical sources have not been comprehensively characterized. This study examined cancer-related concepts in selected classical PM texts and explored potential conceptual parallels between these historical descriptions and selected concepts in contemporary oncology. Methods: A summative qualitative content analysis was conducted on five selected classical PM texts dating from the 4th to the 13th century AH. The analysis focused on historical descriptions of cancer, including definitions, proposed etiological factors, clinical manifestations, progression, and therapeutic practices. Coding was inductive, and the development of categories and themes involved iterative review and discussion with faculty members and subject-matter experts. Results: The selected PM texts describe cancer (saratān) within a humoral framework as a pathological swelling associated with altered or accumulated melancholic matter (*soda*) and, in some descriptions, its transformation or "burning" (*ihtiraq*). Reported historical etiological factors included dietary practices, impaired digestion and elimination, sleep disturbances, previous disease or injury, altered heat and dryness, and emotional disturbances. Clinical descriptions included progressive pain, enlargement of the lesion, characteristic vascular appearances, weight loss, and other local and systemic findings. Therapeutic practices included dietary modification, medicinal preparations, measures intended to promote elimination, bloodletting, cauterization, and surgical procedures. Conclusion: The selected PM texts provide historically situated descriptions of cancer and its causes, manifestations, progression, and management. Some observations may be compared conceptually with selected contemporary biomedical concepts; however, substantial differences exist between the humoral framework of PM and the cellular, molecular, pathological, and evidence-based framework of contemporary oncology. The identified parallels should therefore be regarded as interpretive and hypothesis-generating rather than as evidence that PM anticipated modern oncological mechanisms.