CANCER RESEARCH.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17608, 10 November 1922, Page 5

CANCER RESEARCH.

A Government grant of £500,000 for cancer research is asked for by the Federation of Medical and Allied Services tsays tho London "Daily Chronicle'!). tiome startling facta concerning the scourge were stated at a mooting of tuo l'oueraMon t>y Mr J. P. iocluiartMummery, senior surgeon to St. Muni's tlbspitai tor; Cancer, when moving a resolution that the necessity of tho grant be urged on the Government. He said the disease was one of tho worst sourges of civilised man, and accounted tor an enormous number' of deaths. " The liegistrar-Genoral's returns for 1920 showed 43,087 deaths in a population of 40 million, or.more than one per 1000. It had beeit calculated that cancer was the cause of death in 25 per cent, of persons over 45 years of age. This was serious from the point of view of the State, and particularly so as cancer showed a preference for healthy individuals. It attacked the worker rathor thnn the drone, the strong rather than the weak, the useful rather than the useless. A small percentage of patients could be cured if they sought medical aid soon enough, but the percentage was much too small, and, unfortunately, the majority of patients sought aid too late. In his private practice 68 per cent, of cases were incurable when first seen, and the hospital figures showed 93 per cent, of incurable cases. Tho obvious remediy was to find a method of prevention, but so far they had entirely failed even to suggest one. A Government grant of half a million —one-twelfth of what wo spen"- in a single day r.ofc three years npo wnuid go far towards solving the problem.