MEDICAL RESEARCH

Feilding Star, Volume 7, Issue 2134, 13 February 1929, Page 5

MEDICAL RESEARCH

LESS T. 8., MORE CANCER

I NCI I)ENOE OF DISK ASES (Auai. and N.Z. Cablet. New YoSc, Feb. 12. Dr Francis iWood, head 'of the Canjuyr ReMearcb, Institute of 'Columbia- University, comn(ehti'ng on a despatch concerning the research studies of Dr. Cherry at Melbourne University, said lie was not at all surprised at tlie latter’s findings. ‘•‘Tli-e general view among medical men is that the decline m mortality from, tuberculosis is the generally accepted reason, for the- rise in cases of cancer, since cancer is a. disease of old people- and tuberculosis one of youth. Anything that prolongs the life of the individual in the community increases liability to can-

it is interesting to note till at Dr] Raymond Pearl, Director of the In-! stitute of Biological Research at tjhe John Hopkins University, has just published a- statistical study of 7500 autopsies. “Tn 886 persons who had a great, deal of florid tuberculosis, there were only 1.2 .per cent, with malignant tumours,” he says. “On the other hand, in 880 persons with no record of lesions tuberculosis at autopsy, having tjlie same age, sex and racial distribution, case for case as those very actively tubercular, there were 9.3 per cent, with malignant tumours.”

As a. result of these studies special treatment of selected cases of persons with malignant tumours with certain forms oP tuberculin lias been •under taken.