FIGHT AGAINST CANCER.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5321, 3 September 1928, Page 1

FIGHT AGAINST CANCER.

CUBABLE IN EARLY STAGES. IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH. “The Fight Against Cancer” was th'e ; subject of a.n address given at the Hamilton High School recently by Dr. G. H. Gower, surgeon-superintend-ent of the Waikato Hospital. Dr. Gower said he h.a.d not chas.en the subject. The medical profession knew surprisingly little, about cancer, and he would have chosen rather, to speak of something far more simple. Almost every day one heard of some new cure, yet more and more people died of the disease. The. object of the lecture Was partly to show that we need not be afraid of cancer, that the, problem could be sqlved, that the disease w.a.s curable, and that more and mo,re people were being cured. PREVALENCE. In Ne : w Zealand last year 1324 people had died of cancer, or about 10 per 10,000. This would mean about 20 in and around Hamilton. The rate in England was, higher, in Scotland higher Still, and in Denmark highest of aU. Ceylon had a very low r.a ( te — und'er 1 per 10,000—and then came Egypt, Spain, and Japan. The death-rate .fr.qm cancer in New Zealand had risen, from 2.4 per 10,000 in 1875 to 9.2 at present. Similar increases were found i,n ojtJiqr countries. In Engla.nd, while the general deathrate ha.d declined 33 per cent., th'e cancer death-nate had increased 20 per. cent, in the last 20 years,, and this increase occurred in spite of the fact that more people were being, cured 1 . One out of every seven persons over 30 died of cancer,. Cancer, said Dr. Gower, shquld never be diagnosed l definitely except after microscopic examination. One read of cases of cancer being cured, perhaps by dock leaves on Epsom salts. Mistakes were made in diagnosis, and so people .were liable to be misled into a belief in quack euros. IRRITATION A DANGER. Cancer usually occurred in seme part of the body in which there wa.s constant irritation or inflammation. It was always a local affection at first, and if all could be detected and treated at this stage practically a ll could be cured. Diseased rather than healthy organs were attacked. Certain forms of cancer, of the tongue followed smoik.ing, of pipes as a result Off the irritation. A broken tooth might have the same effect. It Was obvious that a cure could be effected in these cases in the pre-cancerpus state. It was astonishing to what a point many people- would gq before seeking r.ei'lef. A fan as was known, there was no hereditary predisposition to cancer. Nor was it caused by any spec’al food Or the absence‘thereof. Th?re were no “cancep districts.” The disease was neither infectious noi contagious. By charts the lecturer showed the spread o,f cancer growths along the lymphatic vessels. NO PAIN IN EARLY STAGES. The public should know, de .s,aid, that pain was very rare; in cancer except in the later stages. People would allow growths to continue increasing for years, and would become alarmed Ojiily when the pain developed, Often women with a growth on the breast would say they had knqwn of its existence fon eight or nine months, but had not worried, because .there wjV> no pain. Cancer, taken early was a simple matter ; left till late it was quite the reverse, it was curable as long as it was local and accessible. He took three classes of cancer, of the breast. In the class treated in the earlies stage 88 per. cent, of the women were alive after 10 years ; of the either two, classes only six or five per. cent, alive after 10 yejsrs. It >vas very difficult to advise the public as to how to decide whether, a growth might be cajicer. Any phnpM wart, mMe, lump, on scab that changed in appearance after the age 35 should be examined. -Any- small ulcer, especially on the eyelids 1 , tongue, or lips, should be removed if it did not heal soundly in a few week)s. Removal, which could be carried out under a local anaesthetic, would cause very little .inconvenience, to the patient. All .lumps .in the breast should be examined- Cancer of the Sjtqmach was the commonest form.in men. It began most insidiously, and wqs often regarded as. indigestion. Most people had indigestion, but if it became chronic and Was aecqmpanied by loss qf appetite it was- suspicious. METHODS OF TREATMENT: “Eradication by surgehy while the disease, is local -is the only certain cure to-day,” the lecturer said 1 . “X-nays and radium- ar.e- used where the growth is inaccessible or too far advanced. Although there have been cases where the disease seems to have been arrested temporarily, several impartial authorities say that they have never seen a case cured by these fqrms of treatment. I have never seen o-nc cured by radio qr X-rays.” cure would .then surely follow'. IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH. . Dr. Gower referred to the great' efforts now being made by researchscientists to discover the, c.a,use and cure of the disease. He quoted from an address, by Sin Berkley Moynihan, reviewing the great achievements of research in the war against surgical sepsis, mala,ria, yellow fever, plague., and tuberculosis, and expressing the •hope of similar success in discOjve,r.ing the cause and cure of can C -Cr, and possibly in bringing about its prevention. Dr. Gower, added that medical men in general were confident that the cause would spoil;, be and th*a