The New York herald., 1921-02-20
HEAT ANDX-RAY AID
IN FIGHT ON CANCER
DIR. Wood Tells Of Experiments
Being Conducted at Colum-
bia University.
STILL SEEK FOR CAUSES
Use Of Radium Limited Be-
cause of PrOhibitive Cost
Diagnosis Important.
STILL SEEK FOR CAUSES

laboratories. In report made pub
! lie yesterday DR.. Wood discussed
the results of experiments which COM
bined heat and the X-ray in the treat
r.ent of the mysterious ailments. In
teresting results were obtained by COM
bining heat and the X-ray, but DR..
Wood states that it is not possible as
yet to determine whether findings OBJ
tanned from experiments on animals
can be transferred to human beings.
Research has shown" said DIR. Wood,
that the unknown agents which lie be-
hind the production of cancer apply
both to mice and men. That the cause.
or, what is more probable the causes, of
cancer will be discovered in short
time Is more than doubtful. Ultimate
solution may have to wait upon ad-
vances in our knowledge of the condi-
tions of growth and life in cells as yet
not only undiscovered but not even
foreshadowed.
"In the meantime much remains to
be done which will be of great help In
the diagnosis and treatment Of cancer,
and this is, after all, the more impor-
i tant as far as the human race Is con-
cerned than Is the ultimate knowledge
I Of the cause of the disease, for even
should the cause be discovered 1t does
not necessarily follow that remedy
will be Immediately forthcoming"
How the X-Ray Acts.
Discussing the application Of the
/ N-ray to humorous growths DIR. Wood
said:
THE results permit the conclusion
that while. as has long been known,
certain human tumors of low malignancy
can unquestionably be cured. many OF
The new growths which involve the
Internal organs require so large an
amount Of X-ray that their proper
treatment would place the life of the
patient in jeopardy. If a tumor is very
susceptible to radiation it may be
possible to effect a cure by approaching
| the maximum dose, but some tumors
are very much more resistant than
others. and the highly resistant varieties
are still beyond any real and permanent
benefit from radium or X-ray treat
| meht.
Among these may be included most
| of the tumors of the digestive tract and
those of the lungs. liver, kidney and
| spleen. While, therefore, certain
amount of Improvement often follows
| raging, even in the case of the more
resistant tumors, no permanent cure of
these types as a result Of treatment
| either by radium or by X-ray can at
| present be hoped for.
""The lethal dose of radium having al
",
comparative studies were possible, and
these seem to show that there Is but
little If any difference between the
effects of the two agents when applied
under strictly comparable conditions
The advantages of radium lie in its
portability and in the fact that 1t can
be inserted into the tumor ITSELF while
the N-ray is of necessity applied only
externally and, therefore, through the
| skin and other fha
tumor. In the use of X-ray an addi-
tional danger lies in the high voltage
which must be used in producing rays
which will penetrate in sufficient con-
centration to the inside of the tumor
without damaging the skin.
Radium Cost Prohibitive.
"On the other hand, the cost of a
sufiicient quantity Of radium Is in many
instances prohibitive. while a satisfac-
tory type Of X-ray apparatus is avail
able In all the larger cities. With the
limited amount of radium now available
II Is probable that the use of this agent
Will In the future be confined very large
~ TO institutions with endowments suf-
licient to purchase the large quantities
necessary. An interesting phase OF this
financial problem is the purchase by
New York State of $250,000 worth of
Study of Malignant Disease at Buffalo,
in order that this remedial agent may be
Iplaced at the disposal of those too poor
to pay even a fraction of the Interest
charges on so large sum-
Faced by the dilemma of the natural
Limitations to the amount of X-ray which
can be given to patient, several mem
bers of the staff have been carrying on
n series of experiments In combining
tt1l xtYe1fIt tttffh 9th ,aI
agents which act destructively on tumor
cells. in the hope that large amounts OF
energy may thus be set free inside the
tumor to destroy the cells and yet the
patients life be not jeopardized.
zone form of such energy is heat, and
experiments on animals so far seem to
Indicate that IL is possible by the appli-
cation of suitable electric currents to
heat the substance of tumor so as to
produce considerable destructive acaion
without in any way injuring the patient.
A dose of N-ray necessary TO kill u
tumor in an animal usually causes death
of the animal in the course of a few
days, but with a combination of heat
and raging better results have been OBJ
tanned. Whether these findings can be
transferred with success to human be-
ings II is not possible to state at the
present time.
"The question of diagnosis in cancer
is vital. for with the knowledge that
cancer In its incipiency is always
ocal disease and could be removed with
put danger of return could a diagnosis
be made, everything which leads to an
Improvement in our dlagnostic ability is
real advance toward the control OF
the disease. One of the important
methods for early diagnosis is the re-
inoval of a small fragment for micro
kcopic study BY many this has been
thought 10 be a hazardous procedure.
put In paper published from this lab
pratory Il has bean shown that. in an
nmal at least such incision does not
ausc any distribution OF the tumor and
hat therefore this method of determin-
ng the nature of small tumor not
otherwise diagnosable may be safely en-