Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-06-08
CANCER STUDY.
To- operation of Specialists Through
out the World Needed.

Or. Nicholas Sem Of Chicago. in his
address on Cancer before the recent
LISBON international congress. publish
Gu III the journal of the American
Medlcai Association takes a reason
ably broad view of his subject ana
mares II Stfong plea for an internal
tlohti study OF the disease as the Surest
means Of settling many Of the points
III dispute regarding its causation ana
possible cure. carcinoma Cor
cancer), he says, lis so common. and,
according to recent statistics, I'M
GueStionably on the increase, that il
behooves our profession to make US" Of
every possible means ana avenue to
discover its real cause and nature and.
having accomplished this. to open up
the way Tor ite prevention and more
successful treatment"
Such investigation can be carried on
only on a large scale by studying the
climatic and topographic relations Of
the m;tlady, the racial proclivitics to
its invasion, the habits of different
people. the Influences of civilization on
its progress and many other features
of comparatively minor importance.
In support of this view he details many
interesting factors in the problem that
not merely show the limits Of our
knowledge of the maady but upset
various theories regarding the supposed
factors in its production.
Melancholy as il truIy is. the real
origin of cancer is as yet unknown. No
parasite has been discovered to explain
ITS invasion, and no treatment short Of
has given any hope. Even with the
best surgical skill the growth is very
apt to recur, and in the great ma jority
of patients afflicted with the disease
it proves fatal within three to five
years. The one promising feature for
treatment is that the ailment is at first
always local and should thus be
aonenable to early and thorough
eradication.
But the logical treatment of cancer
can only be Fundamentally beneficial
when the cause Of the affection is
positively determined. While we are
searching for the suspected microbe we
should also study the individual who is
likely to harbor and propagate it.
There certainly must be some predis-
BbSlIiS CAUSES Vi Illt tlStdSt' IfaI DN
being better understood Will help us
more directly to estimate the common
factors of general cauS;ltiun. TO this
end We must upset some old views and
traditions ana seek for ntW ones.
Wholesale methods of study in all
directions will give requisite help.
Improved statistics are also needed
together with the concerted action of
scientific investigators throughout thu
world.
The very unequal geographic dis
tributiOn of cancer over the surface OF
the earth points to local conditions,
climatic racial ana di.teti which favor
on inhibit the development OF The
disease. l.ik" lrpra, carcinoma has its
favoritc geographic haunts." For in
stance, cancer is unknown in Algeria
except as il appears in the f.uroitan.
and is very rare in the extreme north
and south. 1t occurs with greatest
frequency in the temperate Zones of
Europe, Asia ana America. is seldom
seen in Central Africa, the south Sea
Islands. Central America, and scarcely
1T all in New Guinea. 1T is Il note
worthy fact that geologicaMy the
alluvial soil appears To constitute Il
local cause, while a chalky or lime soil
exercises an opposite effect"
AS to diet. meat was long considered
4 prime inciter of the malady, but tn e
advocates of this doctrine have utterly
failed to prove their point. and 50 with
other special foods. The tomato. once
SO much dreaded, is now freely eaten
with impunity. During his trip last
summer to within six hundred and fifty
miles Of the north pole. Dr. Sem not ed
the absence of tumorS among the
abor:Sincs. notwithstanding these.
people have lived for unknown cen
turtles on an exclusive animal diet and
DO not know the taste of a single article
Of vegetable food. The North American
likewise, for similar reasons. sin"ulary
free from lumor formation of any kind
ON the other hand, the effects of ad-
Vancing civilization may have much to
90 with the increase of cancer. but how
and in what form is not yet settled.
All these general questions are of great
import. They can only be settled by
the widest methods of inquiry. An
international commission of experts is
one of the tangible means to the end
1t only requires Il proper start. BY all
means let this be made-Thc New York
Herald.