SEEKING A CURE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 340, 29 September 1932, Page 2

SEEKING A CURE

WAR GN .CAJNCEJ? IMFORTANT INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE OF CANCER. THE CAUSE OBSCURE. "Though th'e cause of cancer still elud^es us, I do not think we should feel disappointed. As one' authorxty said, we have learned, in the last 20 years, more about cancer than in tlje pfeceding 30' c'enturiefe', Which ' cover the recorded history of medicine, and we may solve the question of succ ;hsT fUl fr>?atment of 1 caficer 'b.efore We diseover the cause,"' declared "Dr. ' AB. Pearson, .pathologist at the ChrjsL chu'rch l?uhli(i Hdsp'ltal, in an address he gave before tlie anniial ineetihg cjf the Canterbury-Marrborough-N elsoxjWestland Division of the Cancer C^nxpaign Society. - Dr.'Pearsoh- saiff that the'y were nqt yet in a position* to ar.swer the question "What is cancer." They descHbe'd it as a malignant gfo'wth beca'use it destroyed the h'ealthy cells of the tissue or organ and bepaus.e it had ability to be carried or spread to qtbef parts pf the oody, and there ppodupe other growths which carri.ed on the same- destructive process. m this way it differed from the other great group of simple tumours which ' g'reW h'ut remained local;- ands which did"not"destroy normal healthy cells surrounc}ing it. •* »'•' : '•» 1 Affectcd Parts. ' Generally speaking, tlfe eancexv grew q'ttickly. It was' quite indepefident of the commofi Weah It do'ntinUed" tp , grov- and obtained its neeessary food supplies at the expens'2 of tlie cffher normal tissues and organ s of thfe body. Finally the host was fyentually reducecl tq a shadpw but the cancer c'ontinued to flourish and' grow until a ipercifql death rele^s'ed "fhe vhtim. ■ "I 'am -not quite sure if I know what the layman's conoeption of cancer is," continued Dr. Pearson: ^If you a'sh him he speaks of -something eating away the vital organs ox' so,n\e itructure essential to life. I would like tq plear the air a littlq hut will pqt weary you with a- long tachnical descpiptioxf. Cancer can grow in ahuost any p'a'rt Of the body, in the skin, in the tbflgue', the lung, the breast, stomach, bowe| liver and kidney to hi'ention a fcW. But what'I Wish to expl'ain is this, a. cancer, say, of the skin, deve'lops frorp a cell taking part in the formation of ihe skin; cancer of the breast from the secreting cell of the milk glands of the breast, cancfer Of the bowel from a cell taking part in the' mttcous lftembrane of th'3 bowel, and'So on. \ "If we were to take a single cell from1 any -one cancer typa,',sayy -foy instance, a cell from a skin cancer-, and compare it under a micrpscape with normal heqlthy skin ce(ls wa would not be*able to diffex-entiate b.etweeri the two. Similarly, with any of the cancers it is only when we see the cells- >en masse and npte their disorderly arrangement and their abnormal relations in regard to their lawabiding hon-cancerou§ neighbours that 'we are able to say that we are dealing with a- capcer. It is the bahaviour of the cells and not th'eip structure which determines. the m,alignancy. I am speaking nqw as a iniqpoScopist, and II want you to realise that We have man'y varieties of dancer dei pcnding on the organ or tissue from which the cancer originates. t "Why has this particular skin cell or breast cell suddenly run amok? That we da not lcnow' yet. Numerous Theorles. "Meany theories have been advan- j csd. I do not ipretend to tell you of all these theories. All I would say is • that in recent years the lxxajority of them haVe heen viewed !with considerable douht and suspicion. "Taking a general survey of all factors it would seem very unlikely that science will find eventually a singlq cause for cancer. 1 "Finally, I would remind you that cancer occurs not only in many animals as well as in man, but also occurs in fishes* and birds." Th'e spOntaneous occurrence of cancer in such animals as mice has enabled a vast arnount of experimental wox-lc to bq carried out, not only in regard tq mode of growth and transmission of growth,- but also in* the all-important question of treatment with various agents such as radium, X-rays and immune- substances. "FurtKel' r'eports Of very great in,terest concerning the treatment of spontaneous cancer in miee hy the use of anti-cancer serum are published from one lar'ge London hospital. A very large peroentage of cures was ohtained with this serum. The serum is made by injacting sheep with sterile human cancer fragments, and hope is haturally held- that equal success may bs obtaihed in human cases; hut muclx preliminary worlc regarding dosage and type 1 of" growth suitable for treatment remains to be done. "In this experimentql stage of • treatment the directors- state tliat only late and advanced cases of cancer xvill be dealt with', as it would be upjustifiable to delay surgical removal for any new form' of treatment until a very strong case- is xnada out in its favour. It is pax-ticularly asked that no requests for serum be sant to the campaign. If the serum should prove to be beneficial in huriian cases it will be made availabl's at the earlijest pos- ' sihle momept."'