STUDY OF CANCER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17236, 16 April 1930, Page 11

STUDY OF CANCER

INFECTED MICE AND RATS DR. BEGG’S RESEARCH * Bringing with him rats and mice infected with cancer, Dr. N. M. Begg, of Dunediiq returned by the Port Hardy from England, where he has been doing icancer research work. The discovery of the cause of cancer is the aim of the research on which Dr. Begg has been engaged, and which will continue to occupy him. Ho said in Wellington on Saturday that the treatment' of human sufferers from disease would aiso be given by the latest methods, subject to justification by the quantity of radium available. After obtaining his medical degree at Otago University 10 years ago, Dr. Begg spent two years at Timaru before proceeding to London. There lie obtained a post iirconnection with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, which has its. laboratory in London. That Organisation has been in operation for more than 25 years. The work of tho past 25 years had been steadily progressive, but a lot had been spadework.

Dr. Begg said that the position was now fairly clear £or effective research. It'had been established that, cancer was not a disease of civilisation, as had once been suggested, meaning that cancer was confined to civilised peoples. Chiicer had been found to be universal. I,t occurred among civilised and- uncivilised, cold, temperate, and tropical zones, and in, fish, sheep, horses, mice,fats, and /other animals. Small animals -provide'" material upon which Dr.’Begg conducts his research work. Thus it is that ho brought with him a number of mice and fats infected with cancer by tho grafting of tumors. Tumors from chickens have also been brought in dried form sealed in glass tubes. A cancer tumor from a chicken has been found to be very infective in comparison with that from other creatures, and can be easily transported in this form. CANCER IN CHICKENS “Cancer in crickens is most likely, almost certainly, caused by a virus or invisible organism,’’ said Dr. Begg. “The same has not been proved for other animals, and that is one of t,he difficulties in the work.’’ Experiments had shown that cancer could not foe transferred from species to species, though it could be carried to another of the same kind. Though it could bo passed from mouse to mouse, or from chicken to chicken, it could not bo passod from-mouse to .chicken. Regarding .the progress made towards the research goal, the cause of cancer, Dr. Begg said that personally he thought the Gye theory of a virus was the most rational. However, it had only been proved for chickens and had yet t 0 be proved for animals. Surgery, if adopted at a sufficiently early stage, was the, best .method so far available for the treatment of cancer, the doctor said. Radium came next, and it was yielding a fair percentage of success in certain cases only. There was no medical treatment of cancer yet except one involving the use'of a lead compound which was being tried in Bristol. Patients treated there had had relief, but whether it was only temporary relief and not a cure it was not yet possible to eav.