CURED BY RADIUM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 913, 5 September 1910, Page 10

CURED BY RADIUM.

;■ ■.'■;;.... ;--;--A;STRIKING v GASE.. '.:.;<: Speaking at a meeting'.in support of ,a radium fund for Sydney, Dr. Steer Bowker said birthmarks, often.'very'large ones,could be.'absolutely cured*by tHe.application" of ,'radium. \ . So ::. could . cases -of cutaneous cancer, though, no doubt, where-' possible,;.'removal:-by- means of a • knife 'was. quicker and more -thorough. At the' same time, the idea'that.radium would. cure, every thing did a great deal'.'of ■harm,'. He ; knew of cases,where patients had.refused to be operated on surgically because, they believed radium would cure them.; And. so they, missed the proper time, for operation, l and it was toa.late. Then the doctor told of ;a! striking case., ..One of the hospital' patients had' been 'suffering from cancer of the skin of the face. : He complained' to thedoctor -that they had told him half his: head would have to'be cut away—nearly, all the, upper- jaw, part of the 1 lower jaw.V and ■ the whole" of the ear. "But," said .the doctor,' "a friend of mine had just come out from Europe, bringing Jsome radium with him; I said to the.patient, 'My dear man, you're not going" to be operated on- at all.' I got permission for rhy friend to treat him, and after 127 hours of exposure he is now absolutely cured. It was an undoubted case of cancer of the ear and the side of the face. The skin," he continued, ?'is quite soft and; healthy again. There, the man is, outside the door, so you can see for 1 yourselves. '.'Tell -him .to come' in!" ■■'..'■■•- - ..■' ~,-: '•-..,- '. 'v • • -, A ,thick-set, '. healthy booking,. middleaged '-man entered "the J rbom and walked up to the dais on which the doctor stood. "You' ; sec?", the doctor-said. "Ho has been .'well four, months." The audience applauded, as well', they might. There was.not'a mark on the man's face.