THE CANCER MYSTERY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 585, 19 November 1920, Page 2

THE CANCER MYSTERY.

A FAMOUS SURGEON.

AND COMPLETE CURES.

A new onslaught on the cancel scourge is about to be begun by ihc Middlesex Hospital. London. Althoug considerable success has been achieved with the use of radium X-rays, those in charge of the reseafch work are not satisfied wfth the progress' made, and are now to concentrate oi an attempt to discover some chemice 1 with which to overcome the diseasr (writes the Daily Mail). Sir John Bland-Sutton, the famoi> surgeon, who has led the fight against cancer for several years, savsthat the cause of cancer is still a.obscure to the medical profession a? at the time of Hippocrates, the fnthe of medicine.

'■ But although we seem no nearei to discovering its origin," he added, "it is now not too much to say that nf'ter 2:!00 years of investigation com plete cure< are now sometimes bcinu effected.

"The disease is not mastered," he emphasised, "but certain casesperhaps only a small proportion - yield to treatment. Some of th? cures have been effected where thr pi ospects seemed unfavourable. Or the othr hand, apparently simple cases often prove the most baffling. "One thing can be said with certainty," he added, "cancer is not contagious. Neither is it hereditary, although environment may have something to do with the occurrence of v t"». era! canes in '-nc family. I have thoujrht for a long time that the disvasc has it ? origin in a mystery parasite introduced into the system through uncooked food or water."

Each case of cancer ii peculiar I*> "the individual. The growth can bt transferred to another part of the body and flourish, while if transferred lo a second person it dies. Cows dogs, and other domestic animals suf for from cancer. bet an :>ninv' growth does not live on human I>ings. Houses themselves are not able to harbour the parasite and pass it cii to new tenants."