Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-02-27
FACTS ABOUT CANCER
Ranks Fifth in the Agencies That Take
Their Annual Toll of Human Life.

Ranks Fifth in the Agencies That ] axe
Their Annual Toll of Human Lite.
Laymen, as rule, are singularly ignor-
ant of the ravages of the dread cancer
which has been brought into prominence
lately by the discussion as to the merits
of radium as a cure In the registration
area of the United States, which repre-
sents but 5s3 per cent. of the total pop
ulation, cancer ranks fifth in the agencies
that take their annual toll of human life.
tuberculosis, the organic diseases of the
heart, pneumonia and Bright's disease
alone are greater agencies for stilling the
living.
How many persons outside the ranks OF
the medical profession are aware that
one woman out o. every seven over 30
years old succumbs to this octopus? And
one man in every II gives his life to the
disease. And the great fatality rate. ply
sicians and surgeons tell US, is due TO
neglect-to the fact that the average can
Ger sufferer delays his resort to the knife
until the tentacles of the scourge have
reached to inaccessible portions of the
body In many cases the cancer could
be plueked out by surgery II taken In its
incipent stage
OF course, there are the internal cam
GERS which surgery so far has been able
to reach in only superficial manner. At
fections of the stomach, the kidneys and
the liver: In fact, any Of those internal or
gans, generally, result fatally.
The fatality of cancer is rapidly on the
increase. For instance. in the five years
ended in 1905 cancer mortality averaged
22,214 year. Two years later. in 1907.
il was more than 5000 and in 1910 it had
climbed above 1000
A glance at the mortality in New York
gives a more intimate idea of the serious
ness of this menace. There were foS4
deaths from cancer in 1909. In 1910 there
| were 1906 and in 1911 there were 1856.
Cancer has been a factor in the exter-
mination of the races from the earliest
days. 1t was a dread scourge and its
workings a dark secret with the ancient
egyptians in 1890 b. c.. and centuries Ia
ter the old Roman physicians were still
struggling with it. The intense suffering
endured by cancer victims of those days
is depicted in paintings and in documents
uncovered from the ruins of the Roman
Empire.
About the only treatment prevailing In
the Egyptian days was the application of
caustic salve which tended to allay its
pain and retard its advance. And life re-
| mained for many years in some cases be-
fore the deadly cancer came to its fun
/ sitting force. 1t was not until the Ro-
man period that the knife was resorted
/ to in attempts to eradicate the malig-
nant growths.
| CELSIUS held to the opinion that cancer
could be cured only in the earliest stages,
while Hippocrates considered 1t to be
| constitutional disease, and he held sur
! gerry as only secondary in Importance TO
/ the treatment of it. Then came Leonides.
who practiced the most sweeping surgery
| and employed the knife in the majority
| of cases Unfortunately. history has not
given the later generations an idea of the
mortality rate following this liberal use
of the scalpel, but it must have been
| heavy. With the utter lack of antiseptic
methods infection naturally must have
taken its great toll.
| The Egyptians recognized cancer as
growth within the tissues Of the body.
and CELSIUS elaborated upon this when he
discovered chat some growths were ma
| lignant and some benign. Then In $50 b.
c. Leonides declared that the only hope
! OF cure lay IN SIauitdlliles lhN SiS"e ~ SiA
tirely from the body.
Today the fact remains that cancer is a
growth within the cell tissue of the hu-
man body, but the cause of IL is little
better understood.
Delayed surgery is the reason the NOR
tality rate is so heavy, not only in the
United States, but throughout the entire
| world. While medical men of today are
able to diagnose cancer almost with In
falliblity the resort is singularly infre-
quent. The dread of surgical operations
has been the cause OF thousands suffer-
ing for years and eventually submitting
to an operation which proved hopeless.
"Inoperable' is dread word that
| comes to the cancer sufferer who has
neglected to seek competent medical ad-
vice in the early stages. But many
American surgeons declare that in the
very early stages the knife will remove
the seat of cancer and insure a perma-
nent cure. That. of course, refers to can
GERS that are accessible to the science of
surgery-New York Press.