Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-15
Its Use Gives Relief to Suffer-
ers From Cancer.
EXPERIMENTS IN LONDON
Medicinal Properties Vouched for by
DR.. Wickham of Paris.
OPERATIONS MADE POSSIBLE
Distinguished Physician Regard.
Remedy as Precious Weapon in
an Unequal Fight.

Relief to sufferers from cancer and in
some cases the complete repression or
retarding of the progress of the disease
through the use of radium is promised by
DIR. Louis Wickham of Paris. physician
of the Hospital ST. LaZare and chief of
the department of therapeuticaI re-
searches at the Partisan Radium Insti-
tute.
DR. Wickham. who is considered the
foremost authority on the medicinal prop
critics of radium. is spending a few days
seeing the sights of the National Capital
with DR.. A. X. p Harvey of Washington,
who studied the properties of radium I'M
der him in Paris two years ago. DR..
Wickham is making a tour of North
America occurring on 'Radium and Can
GER" at the invitation of leading medical
societies and colleges.
One Difficulty Encountered.
DR.. Wickham does not claim immedi-
ate cures even for those who know how
to apply radium to cancer treatment.
''One great difficulty now, when all are SO
anxious to find a cure for this disease,
is to keep it in its place, not to claim too
much for it, and at the same time not to
deprecate its value said the expert to-
day.
My experiments in the treatment Of
more than 1000 cases show that when
used with surgery radium will bring
great relief to the patient and in many
cases, even where the tumor has been
decidedly malignant and inoperable. have
been able to obtain almost complete re-
gression. OF course, we can never tell
when this repression may cease. The re-
gression is only local and the tumor
may become active again after a long
period. but every year it remains inactive
is so much added to the life Of the pa
tient.
'Radium can render operable cancers
hitherto inoperable, and it can CONSOLE
date the connective tissue formed in the
healing of the wound after the operation
l remember one case that came under
my observation where the entire right
side of the patients face was covered
with a malignant tumor, upon which,
at the time, an operation was impossible
BY placing one of the minute tubes of ra-
dunn into a minor incision on the can
Ger and applying it externally the tumor
was so reduced that a successful opera
ton was made possible.
Treatment of Internal Tumors.
I'm internal tumors radium can be so
employed as to go straight to the seat of
trouble. The ray from the metal. which
reduces the tumor to a pathological It's
sue. radiates through the glass tube,
which is Withdrawn after each treatment.
The tube is about an inch long and one
eighth of an inch thick. OF course. other
receptacleS for the metal are used. For
external treatment the vessel containing
the radium may be a fiat circular case
large enough to cover the diseased part
The ray is somewhat similar to the X
ray, but much more powerful, and, OF
course. more easily accessible to the tu-
NOR
I'm cases where the tumor cannot be
reached through the natural orifices a
surgical operation of a comparatively
harmless character can conduct the ra-
dunn to the seat of the disease.
I'm this way / have successfully OPP
Grated on cancers of the breast. the neck
the esophaguS, the stomach, the neck OF
the bladder and the uterus. The actual
of the tumOr, but also the diminution of
pain and the relief of the patient, and
| often the prolongation of life. Yet even
| thus limited to local action. radium ap-
pears as precious weapon in the un-
| equal fight against cancer.
Recipient of Marked Favor.
| DR.. Wickham's work with radium has
brought him widespread recognition in
| Europe He was responsible largely for
| advanced methods in the treatment OF
| SoiiICi III t'N I~OIiNoi lily IIOSpltdl
was the recipient there of marked IA
vors. George in planning his first visit
| to the London City Hospital with Queen
| Mary sent word to the physician in
| charge of the institution, asking him to
present DIR. Wickham at that time.
| DR.. Wickham landed in Canada late las,
month. He has lectured in Montreal, To
ronto. Detroit. Chicago Cleveland and
Buffalo. Monday he will deliver his lee
| ture before the Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity, in Baltimore, after which he will ap-
pear before the Medical Library Society
of Boston. He will talk to the Academy
| of Medicine of New York November ::
! and sail for France two days later. He is
accompanied by his son, Yves Louis
Wickham, himself a student of medicine
| and who is serving as secretary to his
| father for the trip.