CANCER AND RADIUM.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1956, 13 January 1914, Page 7

CANCER AND RADIUM.

THE MffIDIJSKX CURE. LETTER FROM THE DOCTORS. -AssoclftUon—Coiu'ritlit: i-J.iJne.V. '.-Sun" bpccial Cables.' y'., : (Urc.'January U>f lp^pjnif&U Condon, 11 ' 1 lrl I >[) 1 'I»tf J lls'r.'signed : :iiyWj;Bir; ?Alla«i.-:,0onld,! ■ President't of Uho- liflvnl. Kii%:,Jiihi;f Wand-: .bHiU)n,j Dr.';. John Murray,?Dr.': : ,Tlioinafl . KellocJ;;' and Div Corny nn-goons-at - thf) alphas' Umi published,slating, that. tiii-ivans Ktirprisi/d ti!"read-the roimnuniral!on";in; the. 1 Tillies" of Thursday' lasts purport-'* l.ini; to giv«> resu?ls which'had;-been' ob-' tniued/at... tlio .iiospitriK I».y ~.th6: ap])iicn- ■ lion of ..■ radium ■ treatment for-- cancer patient*. . All tho 'usurer patientsSiii this 1 hospital aro'rccoivcd-for inoperablo cancer,..and aro. under tho'-sole care of llso honorary staff, upon whom rests tho entire' responsibility '.lor;; tho,method',of. .treatment adopted.

dosiro to. poiiitiout -... that :tlio y.'Times's"' statement was' mado;f without communicating ;with those responsible for tho treatment of theso'paticnts;''and it flops not- correspond with theiivCKporil'lu" During the year 10]2, when-31!) patients woro treat-oil, 107 diod nli<l 07. wore discharged at tiioir-'own" request, while 85 romainod.- Last .year 301 c.ase-3 woro treated.' ■' Of. those 108 died, 7i) woro discharged, while 88 remained.''" v.-'"Although tho ' results ..of.: radium treatment are considered 'to"Iks; most hopeful, 'thoy do not; justify .the:.-'state-mont that wo linvo a cancer cure," says the letter. ; "Tho whole profession'- is anxious that n larger supply of radium might be available, and wo regret that its scarcity and cost makes its., general u»o impossible. 1 ' , V ri-■

■' Sir" Thomas Barlow '(Physician -Extrnordituirr to 1f.1f.; tho King) .reported tlmt of twenty-fanr eases of cnnccr, l>eyon<l surgical aid, "which were committal to ilio Middlesex Hospital -from Jtrao to September, 15)12, nil died; sixty-eifc'ht oubw were Admitted during the -samo period of. 1913, and treated with radium.- Thirty-six- of these dii'd, ami tho remainder have ninco boon discharged, ! aud able to attend. k» their daily duties.' This success was considered to be unprecedented. There were oiio or two oases in which tho disease sul>' sequent)}' recurred. Sir Thomas Bnrtow is ' hopeful thai, with a fuller knowledgo of radium, even recurrences will bo prevented. If' 150) milligrammes of radium sve.ro buried in a cancerous 1 tumour, it simply withered up and disappeared. If a fe-w cells wcro left and not killed afterwards, this caused a recurrence. . Timo was required to substantiate beyond all possible doubt tho remarkable results achieved, but there was nevertheless no longer nny doubt as to the immediate effect of tho treatment. A matter of urgency was tho question of State control of tho sources ofi radium, in' order to prevent tho ridiculous inflation of prices, which had been artificially engineered.