TREATING CANCER

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 175, 11 August 1937, Page 4

TREATING CANCER

-Press Assoeiation. \

Says Scien'(i?t RESULTS OF RESEARCH

(By Telegraph-

. DUNEDIN, Last Night. "Although cancer is sfci.ll the major probelm in medicine,1' stated Dr A. lVl. Begg, dircctor of the Laboratory of Cancer Research, at the annual meeting of the Otago and Southland plvision of the Cancer Campaign Spciety to-day, "and although the victims it claims aunually may he numhpred by thousands, yet the position to-day is not one of complete failure, but rathef of increasing hope. Givcii oarly diaguosis and treatriiehfc, the results afe really encouraging." Dr Begg stated tliafc in an investigivtion carried oufc at Leecls some yeafs Ugp op cancer of tlie breast," the followiug resuits had been found afc. the end of five years : 80 per ceiit pf the, early cases, 18.5 per ccnt of tho moderately advanced and 13.5 per cent of the advanced cases weye aiive at the end of ten years, and 17.4 per cent of class, 1, 5-2 -per cent of class 2 and 5.6 per cent of ciass '3 were still alive. Indeecl. it'miuht fairlv be claimcd UQW

that. ixi the early case of breast cqqcer treated by moder-n methods, the* chancos wer.e about. 9.0, per. cent. oi the patients would recover and rcmain well. Cancer of the lip was likeyise easy to recognise aud easy to trcat, so long as it remainecl locaRsed. Even in cases of cancer of the tongue, althougli a" less fayourable variety, it was cla'imed that about 50 per cent. could be eured if tlie conditions were favourable as regards the situation and the eai'liiiess tof remo.val. The. mo.dern use pf radium, eitlier alone or in combinqtion witli surgical Treatment, had proved a great advance in cancer therapy, not only as a curative agency, but for the amolioration of advanced and cleep cancers and relief from pain. Cancer, in les.s lavbuyable sites, wheix .diagnoscd eariy, , yielded from 5 'to 50 per cent five-ypar cures. The great hope then for cancer pat- 1 ients was, continued Hr Begg, early diagnosis and early treatment. it was because of this that laboratory research was so necessary. fn every cancer campaign attempts wero being made and m'ust be pursued vigorously towards finding a reliable means of diagnosing cancer in its earliest stages, no matter where or how deeply sifcnated cancer might be. If this could be found, then every cancer siifferer would be in a position to receive early treatment and an almost certain citro. This was oue of the lines pursued ixi the Domiuion la'bpratp.ry, but up to tlie present, unfortunately, with' po, success. Anbtber aim in laboratpry research was to find possible ways, pf ma|iug racliuni treatment even "xnpre efficient than it was now. " Unfortunately, all cases did' not respond equally vvejl to radium treatpxenf. Wky this, was so. pncl how it could be altered in order to get fOO per cent of cures xyas "a con;staiit prdoccupalipu of ihe labpx'atpry staff in Dunedin. 1 Dr Begg concluded by sayixig he \yoixld like to impress upon people that cancer was npt a hopelbss disease. *