The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-12-29
URGES EARLY USE OF RAOiUM FOR
 CURE OF CANCER
Knowledge of Distinctive Traits of Particular TumOr
 Essential.

the disease, yet it cannot be relied up-
 on to effect a permanent cure in the
 late stages of inoperable tumors. The importance of early diagnosis of can
 cer was emphasized by Dr. James
 Ewing, of Cornell University Medical l College, in a symposium on this dis
 ease yesterday afternoon at the Am l erican Museum of Natural History,
 under the auspices of the Physiology
 and Experimental Medicine Section
 of the American Association for the l Advancement of Science. Other pa | pers of special scientific interest were
 presented by a number of the fore- most students of the cancer prob 1 lem.
 Dr. Ewing said the use of radium in l cancer has within the last ten years | established itself as an excellent meth | of dealing with benign and malignant
 tumors of the skin, which, when properly applied, it usually removes promptly and with remarkably little scarring. t'It has become apparent"
 said Dr. Ewing, "that success depends very largely upon the skill and ac- curacy of application, upon knoWl- edge of the anatomical character of l the particular tumors treated, and
 above all upon attacking the disease
 before it is too far advanced" Methods Comparatively Crude ] Under-dosage, he said, may des- l troy superficial tumor cells only, and l leave the deeper ones to grow in the | inflamed tissues. Over-dOsage causes l the destruction of normal or diseased tissues, resulting in fistulas, hemorr- haze. and severe infection. With re- | peated doses tumor cells appear to be- ! lceptible Prolonged exposure to large amounts often causes a peculiar and
 severe form of general intoxication. Finally, radium has only a local eff 1 feet, extending at most to a depth of six to ten centimetres, and if it has any constitutional influence this can not be relied upon to deal with ex- | tensive local or generalized cancer. 1 Under these circumstances, a gener- | al recommendation to the public to resort to radium for all types and stages of cancer is decidedly inadvis- able.
 l In spite of rapid improvement in l the technique of application, the
 speaker believed that on the whole the methods are still comparatively
 crude.
 "For inoperable cases,'' Dr. Ewing
 said in conclusion, ''the value of ra- dium, although great, is perhaps al- ready over estimated. To what ex- tent 1t may establish itself in the treatment of operable cases it re-
 mans for the future to decide" Dr. Joseph c. Bloodgood, of Johns Hopkins University, spoke from the surgeons point of view on. cancer in the human being, dwelling especially | ysc,f ing Iesions which may develop into
 cancer, and in the treatment and req moval of which lies the chief ppor- tunity of preventing this disease. Dr: Bloodgood made it clear that cancer in it's early stages is easily cured. ''The disease he said, usually springs from a pre-existing lesion al- lowed to go unattended. Chronic ir- ritation of sore may also cOutri- bute: In external cancer the warning is visible or can be felt. Unfortunate ly pain is rarely present. A mole or a wart, a small area covered with a scab, a small lump or nodule beneath the skin, an unhealed wound. all of these may indicate potential cancer. The appearance of these defects should mean a call upon the physician for examination.
 Warnings Before Cancer
 teNo man ever yet had a cancer on the lip or tongue without first experi- encing some warning. The defect may be burn from continued smok- ing, or an irritation from ragged teeth. The probabilities of a cure are excellent when men heed such sig nals of possible danger and are treat cd at once. Tobacco users are more subject to cancer than those who do not use it. There is no means of pre- venting cancer of the breast, the ap- pearance of a lump or a discharge from the nipple being the first sign, but when such Jumps are at once removed on their discovery, half will be found benign, that is, not cancerous. The removal of benign Jumps un- doubtedly prevents cancer in many cases, since modern medicine clearly recognizes the danger of benign Jumps turning into malignant disease of the breast The chances of permanent recovery in true breast cancer vary with the exact type of the disease, but are excellent ifs it is recognized early and completely removed. The chance of recovery grows less and less as the delay is more and more pro- tracted, until cancer is incurable from the extent of the local or general in- volvement.
 Cancer of the stomach is a more difficult proposition, but even in such cases there is usually a warning. Ab- normal sensations of daily recurrence should not be neglected. So-called digestion, or what is styled collie may be the warming. The chances are that it is not, but it may be so. | If the plain, the sensations,. the mes age from this part of the body comes | time and time again, especially among l people over thirty or forty years of | age a physician surely be consulted" 1
 An historical survey of the cam paign against cancer through the ed- ucation of the public was given by | Curtis B. Lakeman, executive Secre- tary of the American Society for the Control of Cancer. Dr. Leo Loeb. of Washington University Medical School and Prof. G. N. Calkins, of Co., lumbia University, presented papers on Tissue Growth and Tumor