CANCER: THE SEARCH FOR ITS CAUSE AND CURE.

Evening Star, Issue 12871, 21 July 1906, Page 2

CANCER: THE SEARCH FOR ITS CAUSE AND CURE.

interest in cancer and in the various that are being made to seek its | cause and to discover a care for H does not | flag- .It can hardly do so while so many from its ravages, and while medical |toen aw still ignorant as to its cansationand as to the best means of dealing I‘with it. But this ignorance is not due to

.i'vant of exertion and effort; on every side ithQr are active—in the hospital and in the laboratory. This is shown in a marked manner by the fact that in a p recent number of the * British Medical Jour- ? nal * there are no less than eight separate articles dealing with different aspects of the . cancer question. Most of these are strictly .technical, and intended only for the medical :profusion; but there are some facts in the more general articles that perhaps deserve . * circulation among a public that is so keenly and directly interested in the subject. In the first place, probably few people are ®vsre of tho extent of the organised ro- , search Hist is being made by special institutions to discover tho cause of cancer. Of every doctor has his eyes open, and knowing the importance of the matter vrill be keen to note anything in his . practice that, is likely to throw light ■on, the question; and in the routine work «f all the hospitals the same thing is being named on in a more systematic manner, and is assisted by the pathological investigations ordinarily prosecuted at these institutions. But in addition to all this general work there are in most civilised countries special institutions or laboratories, staffed by a large number of experts, which have been established for this ono object, and which direct their efforts to this end alone. In England itself there are no less than four of these institutions. Tho oldest which concerns itself specially with cancer research is the Middlesex Hospital Cancer Chanty. This dates back as far as the year 1292, when a ward was opened for patients suffering from cancer, where they could remain “ until either relieved by art or released by death.” This was done on the initiation of Mr John Howard, surgeon, who persuaded a wealthy friend to provide money for the purpose. But this ward was restituted for a double object—the relief of sufferers and the investigation of the disease—for Dr Howard recognised that little was then known of the condition, and that there could be little hope of amelioration until a more accurate knowledge of the condition was gained. From the opening of this ward this question of research has been homo in mind, and from tho first all methods of treatment that gave any real promise of usefulness were given a fair trial; but it is only witliin the last few years that systematic scientific research into tho nature of the disease has become possible. A new wing was then opened, and a Cancer Investigation Committee constituted, with an adequate staff and a director, to control tho research laboratories, which were opened in March, 1900. Under this Committee new methods of treatment, such as the “X” rays, radium, and even cancer “cures,” have been tried in cases that seemfed suitable, and the accompanying research investigations have been gradually extended, so that whereas in 1900 the director had three assistants ho now has eight, each with a separate laboratory and nil the apparatus and material necessary for his work. Reports are published from time to time on the results of tho work done in the institutions, and a large amount of statistics is being accumulated, which is of great value for testing various theories that are suggested from time to time. Another special fund is the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, started in 1901. This fund was raised by subscriptions from various companies and wealthy persons in the <sty of London, and a start towards carrying the scheme into effect was made in 1902, when the Prince of Wales was mads president of the Committee, arm Ehe King gave bis patronage. Laboratories were obtained, and Dr E. F. Bashford was appointed director, with Dr James A. Murray as iris assistant. In this institution the researches into the cause of ennoer have been carried on as part of a general biological investigation, though the therapeutic side bos not been overlooked. Hence, the co-operation of veterinary Burgeons and of zoologists has throughout been sought and fully utilised, in the hope that by this means a more general view of the question may be attained, and one perhaps more productive of success than those that confine their attention to the manifestations of the disease in the human race. Besides conducting investigations in their own laboratories, th« fund encourages research anywhere within the lhm»g of the British Empire, and assists in the development of research in various hospitals and institutions approved by the Committee; and a special attempt has been made to get into touch with other institu turns working for tho sune end, so that there may be no overlapping, but instead a co-ordination of effort and a collection of trustworthy statistics dealing with the prevalence of tho various forms of cancer in different races and in different countries. Another institution working on much the same lines is the Liverpool Cancer Research, started in 1903 by a gift of £IO,OOO from Mr T. Sutton Timmia, J.p. Of this, Professor J. E. Moore is now director, and special attention js given to tho investigation of the nature of the cells of which cancerous tissues arc composed. In this department Professor Moore has special knowledge, and be was ono of those who shout three or four years ago discovered that in the details of their division to form new cells the cells of malignant tissues differed from those of ordinary body tissues and behaved more like special reproductive cells. It is believed that in this wav an accurate diagnosia may bo made between malignant tumors and innocent tumors—a diagnosis which it is often very difficult to make on other grounds. Though dealing with a very special department of cytology—ic., tho sd'cnoe that deals with the nature and constitution of the cell

this discovery is one of the most important that has been made in connection with \ cancer daring recent years, and promises to throw nnrch light on the conditions of growth of malignant tumors. The fourth cancer institution in England is the Fulham Cancer Hospital, constituted in 1902, where microscopic and bacteriological examinations are carried on and U£ts made of different methods of treatment. In Ger-

many a Committee lor the investigation of cancer were set up in 1900, and receive an annual grant from the Imperial Treasury. This Comnaattea have no hospital or laboratories of their own, but collect information and make grants in aid of reeearchenhast year a similar Committee wore set np at Carkrnhe, under the government of the Grand Duchy of Baden, and include some of the most famous doctors and professors of Heidelberg, where a special hospital and research laboratory is now being erected. Other similar organisations already exist in Austria, France, Belgium, Holland, and Spain. In the United States much has also ibeon done, especially at the Buffalo Cancer jlAbowfasot. which ms projected. as far.

back as 1895, though it did not commence active work till two or three years later. In this institution thereat© three so mi-indepen-dent departments—the pathological, the chemical, and the biological—all, however, working in conjunction with ono another, and special attention has been given to experiments to test whether canoer can be transmitted from ono person to another. Investigations are also being carried on in connection with the Harvard Medical School and the Loomis Laboratory of the Cornell University, and important results have already been obtained. .All this is doubtless very gratifying and most creditable to the medical and scientific men who avo devoting themselves to the research, but, the suffering patient wants to know the outcome of it all. Has the cause and the cure of the disease been discovered ? This is what he wants to know. It -is no satisfaction to him to know that many thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds are being expended in the research, that elaborate reports are published, that cancer is not confined to man, but is found in other animals as low down in the scale as fishes, that certain forms of it appear capable of being transmitted experimentally to mice of certain breeds, and that the behaviour of the nucleus of the cancer cell in the process of division is of the greatest interest to the biologist. What bo wants to know is : Can the doctor cure the particular cancer he is suffering from, and tell him how to protect his children and those dear to him from being attacked by the same terrible disease? And it must be sorrowfully admitted that the power to answer these questions has nob yet been certainly attained. Much is known about cancer, its occurrence, the conditions that favor its development, its mode of growth and spread, but its actual cause is still a mystery, and until that is known there is little chance of discovering any definite cure. Theories as to the cause arc nearly as numerous as the remedies that have b>en tried. Many, judging from the analogy of infective fevers and other diseases, have sought for a specific organism as the cause, and numerous “ cancer parasites ” have been described from time to time belonging to the bacteria, the yeasts, the protozoa, or oven to other groups, but up to tbo present none of these has stood the test of continued examination. Then, there are the investigations already mentioned into the minute structure of tho cancer cell. It is known that this differs from a normal cell in its power of unlimited multiplication, and we now know that -k differs also In the details of the changes that its nucleus t undergoes in the process of division. These two facts may be connected with each other, and from this knowledge a due may some day be obtained as to the nature of the stimulus that gives to the cell this power of unlimited multiplication, and thus makes the tumor a malignant one. Other theories arc concerned with the chemical nature of tho cancer tissues. It is known that they may contain a greater proportion of certain substances than is found in normal tissues, and possibly they pour into the blood some internal secretion that affects the general health and facilitates tho spread of the disease. It is known, for example, that in cases of cancer there is a lessened' amount of hydrochloric odd secreted in tho gastric juice, oven when tho cancer is in some organ far away from the stomach, and it seems likely that this is due to some alteration in the salts that are dissolved in the fluid portion of the blood, but it is still uncertain whether this general change in the condition of the blood is tho direct result of tho presence of cancer or whether it is an antecedent condition that makes the growth of cancer possible. For some diseases, notably for diphtheria, a specific cure has been found in an antitoxic serum, and there were, and indeed still are, great hopes that a similar serum might be discovered for cancer. A serum supposed to be a cure was recently brought before the notice of the public by a well-known Paris surgeon, but so far it has not fulfilled the expectation of its discoverer, and tho same thing may be said of other cases. Still, this is a hopeful direction for investigation, and it is being eagerly followed up and may lead to success. One thing, perhaps, is made clear from the results of recent investigations : that if the removal of cancer is to bo successful it must be done at an early stage. This is nothing new, but the idea conveyed by the term “early stage” is different from what it was even a few years ago, and what was considered an early stage then might ho looked upon as a stage too late now. Greater knowledge has given increased power of early diagnosis of cancer, and tho skilled medical man may be able to detect almost the first beginnings and to deal with them with good hope of a cure; and this result, though small at first sight, really means a great deal in the prevention of future pn-m and suffering. Meanwhile the crusade is still being carded on, and though they may be for tho moment baffled, those who are attacking the disease are not dismayed or hopeless, for other problems, at the time apparently far more hopeless, have been successfully solved, and they know that, sooner or later, this one will be solved also.