WAR ON CANCER

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 October 1928, Page 4

WAR ON CANCER

- II Hll» II- ■! 1 FAMOUS SURGEON’S SURVEY. Probably the most important conference ever held on cancer has just concluded its discussions in London. Organised by the British Empire Cancer Campaign, it has been a great success. The leading experts of 18 nations have said their say. All the latest theories and discoveries have been debated and examined with great thoroughness and innumerable papers have been written. But the lay public are naturally asking: What is the significance of it all? Are we any nearer a cure for the disease? Has the conference given a new message of hope for humanity? The situation was summed up by .Six- Thomas Horder, Bart., Physician-in-Ordinary to the Prince of Wales and Physician to the Cancer Hospital, London, who took a prominent part in the discussions. In an interview with a “Daily Mail” reporter, Sir Thomas Horder said: So far as conferences ever accomplish anything, I think this one has been as successful as any I have known. In reply to the question, “Is there a stronger hope of finding a cure for cancer as a result of this conference?” I should like to say that I believe that a, definite advance has been made in this direction. Moreover the air has been cleared; wo realise more clearly what we do not know. Perhaps the most important lesson emerging from the discussions is that the most successful treatment is still in the sphere of surgery and radiology and that at this stage of our knowledge we cannot throw over known methods of dealing with the disease for those the value of which has still to be demonstrated. As I am never tired of emphasising, the patient is the crux of the matter. Investigations and research must needs go on, and the many fallacies connected with them must be gradually eliminated, but the seriousness of the patient’s condition is such that something has got to be done, and that without delay. Surgery and radiology have still got the first claims in treatment, in spite of anything that has been said at this conference, but the conference has emphasised the possibility of the use of adjuncts to those measures, such as the use of chemical substances, sera el c. There are three main points around which this conference has centred: — (1) THE CAUSE OF CANCER. Wo are still very much in-the dark. Tho parasitic theory—that cancer is a. microbic process—is still the favourite hypothesis, and may yet, despite i he epoch-making work of Dr. .James Murphy (Now York) and his collaborators. prove to be correct. Dr. Murphy's contribution to this part of the subject has been the most sensa,tional of all (he papers handed in dur-

ing the conference. He has adduced reasons for regarding the actual cause of some cancers at least as. being somewhat of the nature of a chemical ferment. These researches have been done on chickens. In a susceptible strain of these birds the injection of this “agent” can be made to reproduce the chicken-tumour with great constancy. Dr. Murphy’s new discoveries lie in the direction of showing that this “agent” has properties that seem to remove it from the category of microbes, and it was these discoveries that caused so much interest at the conference. This work will, of course, be subjected to critical examination by other researchers. If it is confirmed, and if the facts now brought forward are shown to be applicable to human cancer, there is scarcely any limit to the possibilities by way of further progress that the discovery opens up. Dr. Murphy’s researches extend over a period of nearly twenty years; like nearly all medical researchers they were seriously interrupted, and the results consequently much postponed, by the war. (2) EARLY DIAGNOSIS. This is the second point of importance brought out at the conference. If we wait until the cancer patient is ill we have waited too long. Discovery of the presence of the disease should be made at the earliest possible moment, and the only way of doing this is by careful attention, to early symptoms. Inasmuch as certain symptoms have a special significance to the experienced doctor it behoves anyone in doubt about his health to seek competent advice. Internal cancer is a much more serious problem than external cancer — the stomach and the bowel present a more serious problem and a more subtle problem than growths on the surface of the body. It is essential that ]we doctors should familiarise ourselves still more with special instruments which supplement our ordinary clinical examination of the patient. X-rays examination has been of enor mens service in early diagnosis, and no doubt the radiologist’s technique will continue to improve in the near future. (3) TREATMENT. I have already said that surgery and radiology must at present have the first claim. There is a growing tendency to submit some cases of cancer to radiation treatment which formerly ' were treated surgically. But consideration of this question requires great 1 experience. There is, however, an ; increasing body of opinion in favour : of some cancers of the womb being i treated entirely by radium or X-rays rather than by surgery, and many sur- ' geons themselves take this view. The combination of both methods is the ideal choice in a. large number of cases. ' With regard to treatment by chemo- £ therapy—the use of certain heavy me- 1

tals, for example—the remedy which has been exploited of late has been lead. One of the most animated of the sessions was that at which this subject was introduced by Professor Blair Bell, who has given great thought and spent much time over it.. The preparation of lead now in use is probably not the last word in the choice of the drug. It is a question of improving the remedy, and we may have with lead an experience similar to that with “606,” the remedy for syphilis. The first preparations of this drug used were highly toxic, and some of the patients undoubtedly died as the result of its injection, but it has now been so much improved that it is in everyday use and can be safely administered by any careful doctor. If lead, or some other substance, were improved to this extent and made capable of bringing about resorption of cancer cells, it would be very valuable, partly because some cases of cancer are inoperable and because there is too often a fear of recurrence of the disease even after* surgery or radiation has been successfully tried. What advice can we give to the public in relation to the disease? I would suggest the following:— (1) Obey the laws of cause and effect as applied to health, and thus keep fit. (2) So long as you are fit, don’t worry about your health, and don’t entertain fears of cancer. (3) Avoid the quack and popular books on cancer as you would the plague. (4) Periodically consult your doctor. (Do not imagine it an easier job for him to find out if you are healthy than it is to prove you are diseased.) (5) If you notice any departure from your usual health which you do not understand, ask your doctor to tell you what it means. It may be quite trivial, it may be vital, in its significance. (6) A man or woman who is unfortunate enough to contract the disease should trust to the judgment of his or her doctor as to which is the best available treatment for his or her particular case. Each has to be taken on its individual merits.