El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-11
RENE BACHE'S BUDGET.
FIRST CANCER EVER CURED
THAT IS TO SAY WITHOUT RESORT TO sURGI
CAL HELP.
Case of Boy Treated at Buffalo Laboratory Holds At
tention of Medical World-Hope That the "Vac->
cine" Treatment May Save Mankind From It's
Most Dreaded and Mysterious Enemy
"HE production by the New York
State Cancer laboratory Of a case

| treatment is by far the most important
event in the medical annals Of the
twentieth century. It holds out a sub
! stantial hope that means will be found
for staying the progress of this dread
ed enemy of mankind which is advanc-
ing by such long leaps and bounds as
to threaten actually to wipe out the
human race.
That this is no exa ggerated state
ment may be seen by glance at the
figures of the government census bu-
reau. which show that whereas, in
1850, nine out of every 1000 deaths in
this country were from cancer, the
scourge at the present time claims 40
victims out of every 1000 who die. In
other words, the cancer death rate IN
the United Ssates has in the last 50
years been multiplied by five But this
represents the average merely for the
entire union. In some sections the In
crease has been much more rapid. For
example, in San Francisco, proportion
ately to population, 10 people now die
Of cancer for every one that was strick-
en- by the malady in 1850.
Vaccine Used On Boy.
Now, about the case in Buffalo. The
patient was a boy, and the cancer was
on the neck The parents refused 10
permit its removal with the knife. and
so resort was had to injections OF
vaccine" the result being that the tu-
NOR entirely disappeared.
The vaccine in question was pre-
pared by taking some cancer tissue
from another person-that is to say,
the actual material of a malignant
growth of the kind-grinding it fine.
pounding it in a mortar until not
single cancer cell was left whole, and
finally reducing it TO the requisite de-
gree of fluidity by mixing it with salt
and water In this form, as an emul-
sion, it was injected beneath the boys
skin
The theory on which the process was
based is the same as that involved IN
the new and remarkably successful
method of dealing with typhoid fever,
cholera, and certain other diseases by
vaccination Work of this kind is now
being conducted on quite a large scale
by Maj. F. w. Russell and a corps OF
experts at the army medical headauar-
tiers in Washington. Great quantities
of typhoid vaccine" are made there.
and put up in little glass bottles, each
containing one dose, for distribution.
Prepared in Beef Soup.
Such a vaccine" ordinarily is manu-
featured by introducing a pure culture
of the germs of the disease whatever
1t may be- into beef soup, upon which
they feed and in which they multiply
at such rate that soon the fluid con-
tains thousands of millions of them
for every teaspoonful. They are then
killed by raising the soup TO boiling
temperature, and the preparation thus
obtained, still carrying the dead bodies
of the microbes is the vaccine. Ty-
phoid vaccine made in this way. and
given by hypodermic injection, renders
= person immune to that malady.
Cancer Germ Unknown.
Where cancer is concerned. there has
been a serious difficulty in the way OF
preparing a vaccine" because there
was no microbe to be artificially bred.
The germ Of cancer is unknown. Thus
1t came about that DR.. Harvey Gaylord,
IN charge of the state laboratory at
Buffalo, was obliged to fall back upon
the expedient of making an emulsion
of cancer tissue with salt and water,
and injecting II.
When any vaccine" made from a
given species of disease germ, IS intro
duced into the blood Of a huIuan being.
ii causes the body cells to produce for
defensive purposes, a poison antagonis
tic to the virus of that particular
malady. And. strange to say, the cells
70 on making this anti-poison for an
indefinite period of years. Thus. if a
vaccinated person is at any time ex-
posed to typhoid fever for example, he
does not catch it. because the anti-poi-
son already in his blood kills the ty-
nhoid microbes when they enter and
try to start mischief. 1t is the same
way with vaccination for cholera or
any other disease. An artificial i'm
munity is obtained.
If the cancer germ could be found,
60 Of ooir 80
in the maner already described would
be easy enough But, in all likeH-
hood, it never will be discovered-the
reason being simply that it is too small
to be seen even with the aid of a high
power microscope. To cite a parallel
example, yellow fever is positively
known to be caused by microbe of a
definite species-a bacterium of some
kind. But that bacterium is so tiny !
that no human eye has ever beheld it,
Or is likely to do so. Precisely the
same thing might be said Of the germs
Of measles, scarlet fever and small |
box
The failure to discover a germ OF
cancer has led some investigators to
he conclusion that there really was
no germ at all. They have advanced |
2 theory to the effect that the malady i
was caused by a rebellion OF certain |
groups OF cells, which actually turned !
gainst the body of which they were a |
part. preying upon it and multiplying !
It it's expense, thus establishing a de- /
structive parasitic growth in the very |
'lesh of the victim Undeniably, the /
dea is both picturesque and ingenious, |
Dut there is very little real evidence |
- support it. On the other hand, if I
there be a specific germ of the dis !
sse. of size great enough to be seen !
would certainly have been identified |
20 this by one or more Of the scien-
life men who for many years mast |
have been studyin the cancer problem
q all parts of the civilized world
Cancer Houses.
One fact that seems to point to the
existence of q specific germ is the ex-
silence of socalIed cancer houses" in
which there have been repeated deaths
rom the disease. even when they were
by a succession of families
sought and obtained by the suffrage Of
he people, through the varying career
IF success and failure of politicians
ife until he reached the goal of every
Americans ambition-the guidance OF