The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-23
DR.. MAYO CURES
378 OUT Of 1000
CASES OF CANCER
Famous Surgeon of Minnesota
and His Brother Elec-
trify the World
EIGHTEEN YEARS
OF EXPERIMENTS
Afflicted One Has Better Than
One Chance in Three for
Recovery and Sure
Of Benefits

has cured s7S cases OF cancer out Of
q thousand during the past eighteen
years and afforded relief to 246 other
sufferers is explained through tbs
latest statement of Dr.. William J.
Mayo, the surgeon OF Rochester,
MINI, whose assertion that cancer u
durable has electrified the entire civil
lized world.
The brothers Mayo--Will!am James
and Charles Horace-have gained an
international reputation for their
feats of surgery that the two scien-
fists have grappled so successfully
with the dread disease whose ravages
they now assert can be substantially
checked.
The little Minnesota town has been
called the American Lourdes." So
marvellous have been the cures ef-
fected by these surgeons.
Sure 1t Can BE Cured.
After eighteen years OF special In
vestigation OF cancer Of the stomach
we are assured that 1t Is durable
disease" DR.. Mayo declares. Nearly
stomach. so our investigation proves
that cancer Is a durable disease.
"Of course. cancer of the stomach
cannot be cured in all cases Out
of 1000 cases operated on between
January /. 1894, and December 81
last, ais resulted in cures, 24s pa
sients were improved and their lives
prolonged. and ais were given up
as hopeless after exploratory opera
tions. Perhaps all Of these cases
could have been cured X the disease
had been diagnosed in time.
"The main difficulty IN the treat
ment OF cancer is that encountered in
diagnosing the case early enough to
pormot successful operation. Pres
ence of tumors does not prevent an
operation. In fact, such presence as
sists In the early diagnosis OF the case
Tumors. food remnants and ohstruc-
ton are all valuable signs of can
Ger OF the stomach. Loss OF weight
is another important. sign.
X-Ray Is Important.
Next to tumors and food rem
nants as evidence of cancer, the X
ray ranks in importance in the early
diagnosis not SO much because II
shows the cancer itself but muscular
: defects that are evidences of can
Ger.
"A history OF gastric Disturbances
preceding the cancer for more than
two years was found in a majority OF
the geo cases This would appear
to indicate that cancer of the stom-
ach is preceded by some lesion or
ulcer. But the final test for cancer
is the exploratory operation.
Under present conditions the
patient who is submitted to explora-
.tion with a probable diagnosis OF cam
Ger has little over one chance in
three of a cure. little less than enc
chance in three of a palliative opera
ton, and about one chance in three
that the operation will be merely an
exploration.
Begin a. Exploration.
Every operation for cancer OF the
stomach should begin as an explorA-
ton In the aT6 explorations FOR can
Ger in which nothing further was
done there were six deaths during
or Immediately after the operation.
epration have been called the direct
cause of the death. In most of the
fatalities the disease was far ad-
vanced.
I'm an exploratory operation an In
c,sion Is made In the cpigrastic mid
line and the stomach and accessible
portions of the liver are examined
with two fingers. In case the hope
less condition of the disease is ascer-
tanned the operation proceeds no fur
ther and the patient can go home to
friends at once. Under local anaes-
thetics with movocain the patient IL
disturbed but little.
When to Operate.
sometimes II is necessary to In
troduce the hand for a further ex-
animation OF the organs. In case
parts OF the stomach affected can be
removed. through leaving affected
glands that cannot be cut out. the
operation is generally performed and
the patient can enjoy a few more
years of comparative health.
Moderate involvement OF other
organs, particularly the pancreas,
does not preclude an operation. fsu-
perficial portions of the pancreas can
be cut put. Palliative operations have
/ field of usefulness. out should not
be performed except for the relief
Of mechanical conditions or obstruc-
tons
with our present methods cancer
OF the pyloric end Of the stomach can
be diagnosed and cured in at least
half OF the cases. There Is a pros
meet of five-ycar cure In IS per cent
or the cases. three-year cure In SS
per cent and few patients fail to get
less than one year Of relief follow
ing their recovery from the opera
tion.'