[cannonedhamster]

It would be by necessity less of a killer as people didn't live as long. The average age of death in those times was late thirties, far lower than the common age of cancer in the mid to late 60s. Keep in mind that sanitation, food preparation, medical science, and clean water were all huge advances in life spans and general health.

The PBS series "How We Got to Now" is a great resource for the huge advances in health made in the 19th and 20th centuries.