The Detroit times., 1914-02-09
new AGENT IS
CANCER CAUSE;
SEEKING TOXIN
Rockefeller Institute Finds New
Origin of Dread and Battling
Disease
FAMOUS SURGEONS WORK
TO FIND POSSIBLE CURE
MillieRs Behind Foundation Will
BE Devoted to Finding
Means of Relief

! A mysterious agent" which will go
through all but the most exceedingly
minute filter. and which appears 10 be
q cause OF cancer, has been discovered
/ by Or. Peyton Rous and DR.. James
b. Murphy In their experiments at
the laboratories OF the Rockefeller
/ Institution for Medical Research. The
story Is told by these two investiga-
tors in the current number of the
Journal OF Experimental Medicine.
They have been for several months
engaged In transplating cancerous
1 tumors from one chicken to another.
! In that way they have made the
! tumors more malignant, and, what Is
OF more importance, they have caused
/ spontaneous tumors 10 appear
! The third OF these spontaneous
chicken tumors Is spindle-shaped
sarcoma OF peculiar pattern Three
methods. filtration, dissecation and
glycerination, have been used to dem
onstrate cause for the chicken
tumor cells. Filtration has proved the
most uniformly successful method OF
study.
"A causative agent" say Rous and
Murphy. has been separated from
three chicken tumors OF very differ
ent sort, namely, a spindle-celled sar-
coma, an osteochondro sarcoma and
a spindleCelled sarcoma peculiarly
assured by blood sinuses. This was
all accomplished after the tumors had
been transplanted repeatedly and
their malignancy enhanced
Each OF the tumor-producing
agents is a distinct entity, in that 1t
gives rise only TO growths of the
precise kind from which it has been
derived All pass through Berkefeld
cylinders impermeable at the same
test to small bacteria. and two OF the
three retain their activity in tumor
tissue that has been dried or glycer.
mated
All are strikingly dependent for
their action on arrangement of the
tissue with which they are brought
In contact. The general finds strong
in contact The general findings
strongly suggest that the agents are
OF about the same size and OF the
same natural class.
1T is perhaps not too much to say
that their recognition points to the
existence OF a new group of entities
which cause in chickens neoplasms
OF diverse character
Whether these entities" or causa-
tive agents OF spontaneous cancer
tumors are actually living germs. or
merely chemical agents. is one OF the
objects the Rockefeller institute ex-
perts are very anxious TO attain. III
cancer is actually caused by germ
entity" the millions of dollars be-
hind the experiments will be devoted
TO finding something that will kill the
germ--a toxin or antitoXin that may
not only destroy cancer but render
persons immune to the disease.
The experiments of Rous and Muir
ply have demonstrated that nltra-vio-
let rays kill the cancer cells and leave
the mysterious agent" or entity
unframed The resistance OF the
agent TO heat Is only very slightly
greater than that OF the cells On the
other hand, the agent wristbands
freezing and thawing. which reduce
the associated tumor tissue TO pulp.
These agents are SO intensely in
dvidualized In their characteristics
that one OF them will attack the
lungs while another goes TO the
muscles Fowls which fail to de-
velop the growth within one month
after an injection OF the agent remain
free OF them as a rule.
There appears to be an actual latent
period after the incubation, as in the
case OF other well-known diseases.
THAT the greater part OF this period
is one OF actual latency with tumor
cells absent as yet. aud is not merely
an interval during which the tumor
is growing but clinically impercept-
ible,' say the two egperimenters, has
been determined by the early micro
scopic examination OF sites where the
agent is known TO be present and &C.
tive
The growths resulting from injec-
ton OF tumor producing agent into
the skeletal muscles are-at first pure
" local in character In only one
among many autopsies have growths
been found which suggested pos
sible primary dissemination by the
blood stream. In that case the blood
may have been infected by the In
jecting needle passing through vein
or blood vessel. But ordinarily inocu.
lating a vein with the agent fails to
produce tumors.
Many fowls are resistant to the
tumor producing agents in any or the
forms used The tumor resulting
from a local injection OF the agent
appears at the site OF incubation.
Put into the breast muscle, II &c.
velops along the track of the inject
ing needle.