CANCER AND CONSUMPTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21146, 1 April 1932, Page 9

CANCER AND CONSUMPTION.

REVOLUTIONARY THEORY " DIRECT RELATIONSHIP." CLAIM TO HAVE PROVED. AUSTRALIAN DOCTOR. f. SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright;. (Received March 31, 9.15 p.m.) CANBERRA, Match 31. Tbc direct relationship between cancer and tuberculosis is claimed to have been proved by Dr. Cherry, a cancer research fellow of .Melbourne University. Ifc told the Cancer Conference to-day thry, a long series of. experiments had shown that tho presence of tubercle bacilli was one of the factors which caused cancer.

Lor.g investigations had proved conclusively that the sum of tho combined dyath rate from cancer and tuberculosis remained nearly constant, tho increase in deaths from cancer almost exactly replacing the diminishing numbers of deaths from tuberculosis.

"A most revolutionary view" was the description applied by a prominent Auckland medical man last evening to Dr. Cherry's conclusions. "The question immediately arises, from an investigation of the cabled statement, whether it is meant that cancor results from chronic inflammation caused by tubercle or whether it is the result of specific action by the tubercle bacillus," ho said. "To say that the presence of tubercle bacilli is one of the factors which cause cancer is very vague.

"There is a recognised border-land group of cases of chronic inflammation which merges info a group which presents the characteristics of cancer of slow growth. It is known, too, that any long-standing chronic inflammation can become cancerous. Chronic inflammation v caused by bacilli other than tubercle has developed into cancer, so it appears that the relationship between cancer and tuberculosa can only apply to a restricted number of cases.

"Dr. Cherry's investigations of statistics can hardly be held to support his claims. The death rate from tuberculosis is decreasing because the cause of tubercle is known; the disease is being prevented and also cured under early treatment. On the other hand wo know that cancer is increasing, hut it is possible that a percentage of the increase is due to tlic fact that we are now able to diagnose cancer earlier than was the case a few years ago. "Dr. Cherry suggests that people who used to die from tuberculosis are now dying from cancer. Statistical proof of this could riot be accepted; it must be capablo of medical and scientific proof as well."