The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-06-03

Cancer can be prevented or cured and the needless sacrifice of thous- ands of lives can be stopped by edu- eating the public as to the facts about this disease. The cause of cancer is not understood, but much is known about the conditions under which IL develops, and 1t is certain that safety lies only in early recognition or the symptoms and prompt operation. Ra- dtun is useful in some cases but it is not to be relied upon as subsfIrutd for surgical treatment-the only known sure cure. This message of the nope to be found in early and competent treat ment should be spread broadcast The need of supplying the public with more and better knowledge about the diseasA is wildly shown by a newspaper clip ping recently received at the once of the American Society for the Con trol of Cancer. A woman wrote to in question that a lump on her breast
 had been growing about 8 year. She said she had been told that kerosene rubbed on it was good for it and had tried 1t without result except to cause inflammation, and so she was ''very much worried.' The answer. published along with, this letter ad- vised her to "bathe the spot thorough ly and apply pad of antiphlogistian It is hard to say which aspect of this SeAc9S S4NSS td10 SSTC1LIOG S4ACSEAT-l4Ae@( VI the women, probably doomed to pre- mature death because of her tgnor- ance, or the terrible responsibility of the newspaper which left her and per- haps other readers to their fate by failing to say that every lump in a woman'S s breast should at once be examined by a competent surgeon.
 The general state of ignorance, de- lay and neglect in regard to the early
 signs of cancer is shown by actual statistics which can not be disputed
 The foremost surgeon of the world, recently said in a public address that people wait on the average a whole year after discovering some suspici- ious symptom before they come to the. operating table. Another surgeon six of the largest New York hospitals to throw light both on the frequency | of cancer and the delay in seeking treatment. Out of 12.545 surgical pa- tients he found 542 Qases of cancer. ap-. iproxinaately one in 22 4.39 per cent. for cancer he found that after dis covery of turnor, or after the first suspicious symptoms, the 36 men had waited on the average 12-2 months be- 30 women, an average of 11.9 months.
 DELAY MEANS DEATH
 In like manner Dr. Winter of Koen- | igsberg, Prussia, the pioneer in the
 education of the public on cancer, an-
 alyzed 10S7 records of operab1e cases and showed that ST per cent. Of these patients could and should have come
 to treatment much earlier. when their
 chances of cure would have been much
 higher than was actually the case. De- l lay of a year or even a few months
 makes all the difference between life
 nd death.
 1 If the American movement for pub 1io in 1T,fF.- frN
 ease needs the encouragement of a
 precedent, it is to be found in the
 remarkable reduction of the cancer
 death rate through a campaign of edu-
 cation by Winter in Koenigsberg. This
 campaign was designed to reach all
 people, particularly women since they
 are more susceptible than men to the
 disease The public was informed as to the first symptoms of cancer and
 the surpassing importance of the ear1-
 fest possible surgical treatment. In
 this campaign the cooperation of the
 laAty and the medical profession, on
 the one hand, and the press on the
 other was enlisted. The cancer-death rate of Koenigsberg had increased
 from 5S in 1880 to no in 1893 and in
 100000 of the population. The cam
 paign of education then began to. have it's effect and the rate gradually de-
 c11ned to the point of 118 for the year |
 large, but it is most important when
 we remember that nearly everywhere
 else the rate is steadily increasing. Even more specific proof of the hope
 which early operation gives is to be found in the statistics of operations
 American hospitals. These records
 have never been studied as thoroughly
 as they will be under the plan Of the
 American Society for the Control of I (Nel- l~ l information full of the highest interest
 and significance to the public.
 CHANCE OF CURE.
 A preliminary study Of the records
 kept at the hospital and laboratories
 of one of the largest American cen
 ters of medical education shows cIeare I 1y that the chances of a permanent.
 cure, if operation be resorted to
 promptly, are very high. It shows equally clear that these chances de-
 crease with every day of delay. And as the likelihood of cure becomes re- mote. the immediate danger and dam Iage of the operation becomes greater. ] That is to say, a new and small can. l Ger may be removed without much
 pain and without much mutiIation, but
 an old and dispersed cancer leaves a serious wound behind it. These records have already been am aIyzed and tabu1ated for cancer of the lip, tongue and breast. The statement of results takes account of the condi- tons said to precede actual cancer, such tobacco 12listers, white spots and sore places about the teeth. While there Is digerence of opinion as to the bearing of such conditions on the development of true cancer it cannot be denied that in many cases they seem to cause the disease. In consid- ering the result of operations to remove these 'tprecancerous Iesions,'' it should of course be remembered that these
 conditions are not always by the de- veIopment of true cancer and the sta tistics should be understood in that light.
 In operations on the tongue the hg-
 ures show that the prompt removal
 of the sprecancerous'' lesion resulted