CANCER PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1642, 8 January 1913, Page 5

CANCER PROBLEMS.

: IS SURGERY NECESSARY? . ] , STRONG OBJECTION TO THE X-RAYS. i HEALTHY CELLS DESTROYED. ; "Too much mystery surrounds cancer, ■ | ;ho nature of which has, indeed, been . :nown for maiiy years past, although satsfactory results from treatment are at j iresent but rarely obtained." writes Dr. jovell Drage in a recent issue of the 'National Keview." "The, disease con:ists of the assumption by certain colls ! if parasitic qualities, and tho result is ;ho formation of a growth or tumour, vhich derives its means of subsistence nui expansion, from its host. The condi:ions which causo f this assumption of larasitic properties are unknown, but a dausible suggestion is' that an OTgamsm, lither belonging to the animal or vegeable world, obtains access to the cells vhich are to becoino cancer,ous, and alter laving initiated the changes, loses its nvn existence and becomes incorporated n the cancerous cells. ■ .. "Tho growth having commenced, no iymptoms of disease aro to be detected u the individual attacked until it has :ither interfered with tho work of one or nore organs or' by pressure has caused jain or discomfort. , A' cancer therefore 'nay havo grown for many years betoro he individual attacked is aware that 110 >r sho is the subject of the dread_ disease.. L'hero nre no symptoms of the diseasei to bo specially assigned to cancer. Atter rarying intervals'of time the growth ipreads from tho original focus to other jarts of tho body along tho'coursc of the ymphatics, and it is not uncommon to tind these channels infected as (soon as :he'original growth is detected. ' There ire periods'of activity and quiescence. "In a fow eases a growth 'has been ;nown to cease altogether, and complete lisap'pearanco is not unknown. Alter tjw. ;rowth has reached , a stage of maturity legeneration begins, and, in fact, local leath occurs. ' The most common cause if death is tho blood-poisoning which irises from tho'absorption of the poisons :auscd by tho. process Of destruction.' Ivith the exception of the origin of. aneer, it. does not appear that there is uuch room- for mystery. Moot _ points hero are, no doubt, such as the position of leredity ; and of tho • nature of predis-1 wsing, causes, but so far as the problem if treatment is concerned, tho difficulties 'amain in tho same position which they inve always occupied. • Surgical Operations. ' "Official pronouncements arid semi-6ffi-lial . communications persist to the effect ;hat surgery alono can ensure either the :ure of the patient or amelioration 1 of ;ho distressing symptoms." Charlatanism s the least of the many charges which i doctor incurs if he attempts to treat :he disease, in any other way than that vhich the surgeon proposes. Twenty-five rears ago the large mutilative operations it present adopted, were impossible, but itep by 6tep the surgeon: lias niado it xwsible in many casts, not only to reiiove tho original focus of disease, but ilso • parts which • experience has taught ire those most likely to bo the subject )f subsequent, .attack. _ ' .Surgery has reached the point when the mtient can almost be removed ■ from the lisease,* though it cannot remove tho dis:aso from the . patient. No satisfaction an be felt at such a result, and it is ibvious that at' the present moment, the reatment of-thc. diseaso is in an iutermeliate stage. Surgery can'bo said to bo :he best means of coping with tho disease it present recognised by. tho professional Branmin, but to, those who arc ■ not 3rahinins, but possess the'instincts of ;cienoe, it is only so obvious that there iro methods available based upon considerations which in the end will lead to omplcto success. . Tho X Rays. "The treatment- by. exposure of . tho [Pclwth 'to light ravs, such as. tho X 'ays, or those given off, by radium, must lavo a' limited applicability; they aro inly-' • usefulf in eases' in' which; the, growth s ineat' ,tlie' iiirface ,of. ,the body, _ or ' in ucli a place in , ivhich their .application s practicable.' - There is, moreover, a fatal objection to o tho uso of thoso powerful agents; the urrounding healthy ( tissuo is exposed to heir agency as well as the diseased area; ;heir' activity is therefore,' applied : to lealthy o;lls, whose vital powers aro ipprceiably lessened. 1 It is no matter of urprise to hie, therefore, that;tho worst iftses r for' mcdicinal treatment, are thos: n which, treatment by tliesxi, agents has iccn' attempted. • Another, objection tc Ms' treatment is that cases of success arc ov and far. between. . • .. "Treatment J>y tho use of chemical substances, has up to the present time been iandicapped by tho activity of the sur;eon. It is well-nigh impossible to find persons suffering from cancer who have iiot sustained at. least one ' mutilative jperation, and a mutilative operation inrolves, great interference with tho circuation of the blood in . the i.rea operated jpon, equally great interference with lervo supply .and with lymphatic supply Treatment by chemical substances is, oi iburse, equally handicapped, as are otliei nethods of treatment, by tho fact thai :ancer is frequently of old standing wher sufferers apply for treatmant, ar.d it ii ilso handicapped by professional opposi ,ion to any other treatment but surgical 'The nature!of the diseaso having al ready been explained, it can now be statec that chemical -treatment can • bo applici ill two . ways. The first is by tho .uso o: some substance which can ,-be employee :herapeutically, ,of sufficient strength t< ;lestrov the growth. Tho 'second , is ■' thi ilteralion of tho environment, of thi liseased cells, so' that their grtwth. cai bs interfered with, and, in fact, pi event ;d. Tho first is undoubtedly inscfficien jy itself for any curative purpose, tut i may bo ufed in a subsidiary manner Various powerful' substances, such, a formaldehyde, have a very destructiv iction upon cancers which are on th surface of the tody, and which liav dready commenced to decay, and can b used - to lessen the evils of putrefactiv :hangDs. . Result of Investigations, Somo fifteen years when_ I firs began to give my attention to this c!iteas< [ was fortunate in enlisting the service if Dr. Morgan—now Professor of Chemii try in the Royal College of Science, Dul [in—in the work, and, acting: vj.pn th suggestion of Dr. Lewis Jones, I' invest rated various thorhim compounds whic [he former made for me. ' • , ' "Disappointment followed, and only on compound, the oleate was found to be c any use. Dr. Morgan however, at mv suf jestiion, made a number of the salts ( :ouinaric acid, nearly allied to cinnami acid. Organic ' chemistry provides prai tically an- unlimited field in a 6ubjcct ( this .sort. ' , "None of the old and tried remedii in the :hands of the physician havo prove of any value in tho treatment of ,tl

disease, and this boing so the obvious course for tho worker is to obtain new substances of known chemical composition, whoss physiological properties can be investigated and ascertained. "At tho outset observation had lea me to tho investigation of tho cinnamftto of sodium, which is a drug capable of producing in the blood a largo .incrcaso of those white cells which aro the most highly • organised element :n tho blood. The exhibition of this compound proved, at any rate, that the attempt to treat cancer medicinally. was 110 forlorn hope. Palliative results wero obtained, and Air. C. B. Lockwood very kindly used the treatment in his wards at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and relief was: Riven in several cases when that surgeon had done all that his services could effect.. A Successful Attempt. . "This preliminary attempt was one based upon the second method above mentioned. It was believed that, by nlteriiifi tho constitution of the blood in tho direction of the incrcaso of those'cells 1110s profoundly possessing tho atlhbulM ol living cells,' cancerous growths could be attacked, and the attempt was sufliciwitlv successful for the prosecution ol iur t'her effort. Tho salts of couniario acn. which Dr. Morgan produced worn foum to possess considerablo therapeutic activ itv. These acids, tested by ui<( wtulc.u Wiilker method, were found to possess ( i much higher antiseptic power than ear bolic acid when tested with the cnU'l'li bacillus." . , "Considerable experience has now heel Rained of the value of these chwiliC'ill Ml}) stances, and from tlnio to tlmo adjuvant ■ Jim« besn added ox rejected, and tkoro i

now no doubt remaining in my mind that it is possible to mitigate tho suffering present in many advanced cases of cancer." "Unfortunately the supply of patients who have not been treated surgically or by light treatment is very 6inall—only three in all—so it is impossible to advance at tho prcsjnt time a statement of any value as to rectitude in advising patients to refuse operation. But at least I am not prepared to press operative treatment upon" patients to the same extent as formerly, and certainly am prepared to ask for continued work upon tho lines on which I have myself worked. "It is a -matter of difficulty to •understand the mental attitude of officiul persons, and of thoso who, without disclosing their ■ identity, continue fo give forth semi-official utterances in the press to the glorification of surgery and to the disparagement of those who are only conscious of honest endeavour to advance the treatment of a dire disease."