Home built before 1910. It is a 3-story structure with plaster walls and some BX, some cable and a lot of knob and tube. In the hallway on the second floor is a fuse panel for that floor and some of the overhead lights on the 1st floor.

Is it possible to replace the fuse panel with a breaker panel without running a new feed from the basement and without replacing the K+T throughout the second floor?

I recognize most will say the right way to do it is to gut the entire house (walls, ceilings) and rewire - but I see that as being prohibitively expensive and a monumental undertaking. Is it best to leave it as is - or would it be improved (from a safety perspective) if a breaker panel could be retrofit?