WAR AGAINST CANCER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 633, 9 April 1929, Page 1

WAR AGAINST CANCER

AUCKLAND DOCTOR INVESTIGATES RADIUM IN AUSTRALIA “In my opinion it is not absolutely necessary for a doctor to visit Europe or America to acquire special training in radium therapy, as at the present time, modern methods and technique can be studied in Melbourne and Sydney. “In these cities quite a number of radiologists and surgeons have acquired their training in the best European and American clinics.” The above remarks were made this morning by Dr. Neil McDougall, senior honorary radiologist at the Auckland Public Hospital. He returned from Australia by the Marama after investigating radium treatment at the big hospitals of the Commonwealth. In an interview Dr. McDougall gave his impressions of the radium treatment of cancer in Australia. There, a considerable amount of money is being spent on the purchase of radium, which is being distributed throughout the hospitals in the larger cities and to some of the smaller hospitals in the country, for the advancement of research. MELBOURNE’S SHARE “At the Melbourne Hospital alone £60,000 worth of radium is in use,” he said. “This represents, at the present price of radium, five grammes. No greater quantity of radium is to be found in a single hospital in the British Empire. “Four grammes of this radium are employed in the mass treatment, and the remaining grammes are put up in the form of needles of varying size and strength for embedding in the malignant tissues. “The Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney is in possession of a gramme of radium, and a similar quantity is in each of the larger hospitals of Adelaide. Brisbane and other towns of importance. “Already considerably over £IOO,OOO worth of the precious metal has been handed over by the Commonwealth Government for fighting the great scourge, cancer. FIGHTING CANCER “Dr. Burrows, the English radiologist, acts in an advisory capacity to the Commonwealth Government. The distribution of the radium to the various hospitals is largely under his supervision, and part of his duty is to give instruction in the employment of radium in whatever hospital his services may he required. “Already better results are being obtained in the treatment of malignant disease in consequence of all this research work. Careful records are kept at the various hospitals and progress reports are sent at stated intervals to the head department, where statistics are compiled which will cover the whole of the patients treated throughout Australia. MODERN TECHNIQUE “Although the technique of administering radium is constantly undergoing change, the modern technique consists largely in embedding in the tissues very small quantities of radium and leaving them there for many days—say, a week to a fortnight or sometimes longer. This obviously makes a much bigger call on hospital authorities for more beds owing to the extended time of treatment. “During my visit to Australia I noticed in the Auckland Press that Mr. Samson Handley, the eminent surgeon, advocated the establishment of a central institute in New Zealand for the treatment of cancer. “Whatever may be done in that respect it is quite obvious that treatment and research work must be carried on at the larger hospitals in New Zealand where a supply of radium already exists. “At these hospitals surgeons and radiologists are quite competent to deal with the patients requiring treatment. What is needed is an increase in the supply of radium and more hospital accommodation for the housing of patients.”