FIGHT AGAINST CANCER.

Evening Star, Issue 23177, 28 January 1939, Page 14

FIGHT AGAINST CANCER.

Medical scientists the world over keep up an intense and unremitting fight against cancer. The unanimity of will and action recorded gives hope of ultimate victory. It is announced to-day that a physician attached to a hospital in Milwaukee has reported to* the hospital staff the discovery of a micro-organism which is “ the probable cause of cancer.” Milwaukee is a city with a population of half a million people. It is prominent in all matters relating to education, and its hospitals are no doubt- equipped on modern lines. At the same time, such a statement must be taken with reserve until a pronouncement is made by an authoritative medical body. At any rate it is reasonable to hope that another step has been made along the road that will eventually lead to the defeat of one of mankind’s most dreaded enemies. If the cause of cancer remains a mystery, much good work has been done in dealing with it when it does appear. In discussing the future of cancer, the medical correspondent of the London 1 Times ’ says there is no doubt at all that, in the present state of medical knowledge, early and complete surgical removal affords the greatest hope of success, and there is ample evidence to show that, given prompt diagnosis and adequate surgical skill, a large number of permanent cures can be, and have been, effected. Bearing in mind the vital importance of attacking the disease in its early stages clinics have been established in many countries, New Zealand among them, where, upon the appearance in a person of disquieting symptoms, reliable tests can bo made and prompt treatment applied.

Hadiation therapy, it is pointed out, by the administration of X-rays, radium emanations, and more recently by other forms of radiation, has also been found extremely useful, although perhaps the early hopes of this have not been fulfilled. There have been

many cases in which radiation of such a kind has rendered an inoperable growth operable; in other instances cures have been effected, and considerable palliative value is recorded. All this proves the importance of the concentrated and widespread work that is being carried on. It means also, by the exchange of experiences, that advances are being steadily made in technique. There are at present two main theories as to the cause of cancer. One is that a virus, or filterpassing, living organism, is at least a principal factor. It is also believed that some other conditioning factor must exist in association with this virus. The second theory is that malignancy is conditioned by some inherent, possibly hereditary, defect. Cancer takes a heavy toll of life in this Dominion—-in 1937 the deaths from this cause numbered 1,777 —and this fact acts as a stimulus to those who are working whole-heartedly in our midst to grapple with the problem. Next month, in association with the New Zealand Cancer Campaign, a conference of experts from this Dominion and Australia will be held, when interesting accounts of the progress that is being made in the fight against this fell disease will doubtless bo forthcoming. Substantial financial assistance has been given to the movement in this country, and no doubt it will bo continued when further details of the work that is being carried on are made known.