Prior to the marvels of modern science, how did people treat cancer?

Cancer was described: In ancient egyptian medical papyri. They would try spells plus natural products or sometimes wisely state: 'this is an illness i will not treat'. Surgery has been done for centuries, radiation and chemo for about 100 years. I have to say that many anti-cancer drugs are derived from natural sources so who knows for sure the wisdom of those ancient oncologists?

Surgery: The ancient Romans knew how to perform curative surgery for cancers of the skin and breast, and were often successful. Glad you're grateful for better times. We now cure 4 of 6 -- up from 2 of 6 when I was a kid.