CANCER SCOURGE

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 39, 12 September 1930, Page 6

CANCER SCOURGE

CHANCES OF CURE SOME SUGGESTED CAUSES “Cancer of the skin and of the lip is a readily curable disease cither by operation or radiation, especially if promptly diagnosed and treated.” Sir George Newman, Chief Medical Officer of the British Ministry of Health, makes this emphatic statement in a prefatory note to a report to the Ministry by Dr. Janet E. LaneClaypon. “The results secured by radio therapy,” states Sir George Newman, “appear equal, if not superior, to those obtained by operation, reaching 80 per cent, or more of cures—on a three years basis — in the case of skin cancer.”

“Cancer of the tongue is much less amenable to treatment,” Sir George proceeds. “With radium it is comparatively easy to effect disappearance of an accessible primary growth in the tongue without the risks necessary attendant upon operation. To this important extent the use of radium is an advance on surgical operation. But here, again, as with the older methods, the difficulty remains of dealing effectively with the more distant extensions of the disease. Present experience is insufficient to show whether this difficulty can be overcome.” As to the causes of cancer, Sir George mentions occupations involving contact with soot, tar, mineral oil, arsenic, and similar substances. The evidence points to the fact that, in so far as the habit of smoking has any connection with the disease, inhalation and exhalation of tobacco smoke are not causative agencies, but roughness or heat of a pipe or holder may be. The Ministry of Health, in a memorandum, invites local authorities to assist in the fight against cancer by investigating the reasons why pavtients delay in presenting themselves for treatment, and so reducing the prospect of their cure. The reason for delay, states the Ministry, offers a wide field for inquiry. It may be: Physiological, psychical, economic, or social. “More accurate appreciation of the factors influencing patients in this respect may be expected to bring to light ways in which this fatal delay can be reduced or eliminated.” To other evils attributed to the modern noise nuisance, an Italian doctor now adds that of cancer. He bases Lis theory on experiments conducted over a period of fifteen years, and claims 3G per cent, of cures. Noise, he maintains, is one of the chief causes of nerve disturbance and therefore cancer can be cured by long treatment imposing absolute quiet and rest from the hubbub of modern city conditions.