CANCER AND RADIUM

Evening Star, Issue 20375, 6 January 1930, Page 1

CANCER AND RADIUM

RESEARCH IN BRITAIN ENCOURAGING RESULTS OFFICIAL REVIEW OF PROBLEM. A statement on ‘The Radium Problem,’ with reference to the treatment of cancer, < was issued in London in November. The commission states: In March of this year the Radium Sub-committee of the Committee of Civil Research issued a report which led to the creation of the national radium fund, which now amounts to nearly £300,000, of which £IOO,OOO was contributed by the Government. Subsequently two bodies were founded to deal with this problem—namely,,the National Radium, Trust and the Radium Commission. As a result a lavgeiy.-increased supply of radium will be forthcoming for the use ot'the medical profession in its campaign against cancer. It ■is well, therefore, that a preliminary survey should he. made of the present position of radium in the treatment of malignant disease. The true facts of the position, as •known to the commission, may be summarised* as follow: —It has been proved for many years that radium has a powerful effect on various affections of the skin, and that rodent, ulcer and cancer of the skin can usually be completely cured by its use. Luring the last few years the technique of radium therapy has * been elaborated and greatly improved by the use of radium nqedles or of “ seeds ” containing radium emanation (radon), which are buriedUin the tissues in or around the growth. Most of the work done in Britain so far has been directed toward the treatment' of cancer of the womb, the lower bowel, the. breast and the tongue and, mouth cavity, it can be stated definitely that in the abovementioned ■ regions, as the result of long and hard work, of many trials and many errors, a big step forward has, been made. NOT YET A CUBE i-OR ALL CANCERS. / Encouraging as are the results already obtained, it must riot be assumed that radium can cure all cancers, for tins is not yet the case, and many problems' remain to be, solved. The .attack on the primary growth is in a sense the easiest part of the task, for if the growth is accessible and radio-sensitive, if the radium .is implanted in the right place, if the whole of the'tumour is irradidated. if the dose is correct, and if the-exposure is rightly timed—then one may expect the shrinkage and disappearance of the, tumour. Radium therapy, however, if it is t.O be successful, must aim at destroying not only tiro ’primary growth, but also any extensions which may have formed in the neighbouring glands, in the course of the work one point that lias coine out?quite clearly is, that destruction of a primary growth, followed by its complete disappearance, does not generally affect' the development of secondary growths, if these are already formed, any more than excision. pi a cancer of the breast by the knife, will cure a patient,if there are,secondary deposits in the interior organs. / VVe must again emphasise the fact that treatment of cancer, if it is to be successful,whether _ it takes the form of surgical excision, the cautery, radium, or, X-fays, must be undertaken eariv. or before dissemination has occurred; and’ it must bo reiterated that an essential part of the campaign against cancer consists in the education and intelligent co-operation of the cublie. so that early diagnosis and prompt treatment may- be secured. RADIUM AND SURGERY.' , The relative value of radium therapy in the treatment of cancer, as compared with surgical excision, is a difficult point to assess, for the reason that sufficient facts are not yet available.. Jn the first place most of the available data concern cancer, only in the regions of the body above mentioned, and, secondly, we have not yet a sufficient number of cases, nor has sufficient time elapsed, to enable us to prepare statistics whicn will ssow- a true and complete picture. One great point in favour of radium is that its use does riot involve the risks and suffering associated with extensive and mutilating operations, which are so distressing to all concerned. The operation of introducing radium, is, in itself a comparatively slight one, and while the radium is in position, the patient suffers little, if any, discomfort. Under these conditions, and with good prospects of cure without • mutilation, patients should be far more ready to consult their- doctors, instead of concealing or disregarding their symptoms until it is too late tor any fonri of effective ‘treatment. It is perhaps desirable at this point to deal with two prevalent misconceptions. First, there is no proof whatever that cancer is either infectious or contagious. Secondly, there is no evidence that cancer is hereditary, except in one rare form of cancer of the eye. These fears, therefore, can both be dismissed.

RADIUM “BOMB” TREATMENT. So far the successes, achieved have mostly been by means of superficial applications, by buried needles, by radon “ seeds ” or by the combination of these three methods. Little has been done, in this country, in the radiation ot tumours from a distance by large quantities of radium—that is. by several grammes at a i time. This method is known as “ double radium therapy,” or more commonly, the “ bomb ” treatment, because a large quantity of radium is placed in a container (the “bomb”) and applied in such a way that the radium rays may penetrate the affected area. We have not had, hitherto, sufficient radium to do much in this way, although in some other countries it has been under trial. It is, however, a method which urgently requires investigation and a .fourgramme “bomb” has just been secured by the commission and installed at the Westminster Hospital, where patients are now being treated with it. To sum up, a good case has been made out for the increased employment of radium.' . A new weapon, and a powerful one, has beep placed in the hands of the medical profession, though how effectively it may be it is impossible as yet to say. Nor is it vet established whether patients with malignant disease should be treated with radium alone, or with radium combined with, surgery or, X-rays. It is

probable , that a .judicious use of all three methods may be required, but sa any case clinicians must be familial; with them all. * SKILLED PERSONNEL. NEEDED. ! What is : requred at the moment is work, intensive work, on the many problems which present themselves,, combined with careful documentation of the methods used, and registration of-the results obtained. This calls for the close co-operation of physicists, clinicians, radiologists, and pathologists. Some brilliant work has already been done, but much more requires to bo accomplished before the efficacy of radium can be finally established. Meanwhile, good and effective use can, bo made of a considerably larger quantity of , radium, and this will shortly be available, as a result of the National Radium Fund. An even greater and more pressing need, however, is for more radium workers, trained in the highest standards of technique, and one of the first efforts of the commission will be devoted to augmenting the skilled personnel. ■_ It cannot too strongly be. emphasised that, in unskilled hands—i.e.; in the hands of persons not fully trained in th« best standards of techniqueradium may be highly dangerous, both to the patient and to the operator. On tho other hand, in radium, properly used# humanity possesses the best means at present available for combating certain forms of cancer.