The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1926-04-08

What follows is not taken as proven
dogma, but merely as the outgrowth
of some abstract reasoning of my own
on this question that has held the at
tention of the scientific world for
many years.
am unable, first of all, to subscribe
to the theory that there is anything
infectious about cancer. On the con-
trary, a mountain of evidence has
been erected, that tends to disprove
this theory.
In approaching the question
what causes cancer PIT is neces-
sary to first decide what cancer
really IS! Reduced to simplest terms,
it may be said that cancer is mass
of cells of the lowest grade. Unlike
most other so-called tumors, it has no
membrane surrounding it. It has no
nerve or blood supply. While there
are different kinds of cancer, these
characteristics apply to all forms.
The next proposition to consider is
WHERE cancer is located. We find
that it always situated in parts Of the
body where there is epithelial tissue
/ (the best example Of this kind Of It's
sue being the skim. Accordingly we
find cancer in the lip, tongue, throat,
stomach, uterus, prostate, intestines
and breast.
Irritation or Injury-Cause.
Proceeding to the next step in our
process of reasoning, we find that the
site of the cancer had either been sub
jected to an continued mild irritation
or had been subjeced to an injury that
was repaired with scar-tissue. For ex-
ample:
Cancer of the lip occurs in men who
go about most of the time with
straw or pipe in their mouth; cancer
of the tongue and throat is seen in
heavy smokers and drinkers; cancer
of the stomach and intestines is nearly
always preceded by history of an
ulcer; cancer of the uterus usually oc-
ours in women whose womb was torn
during childbirth tit is exceedingly
uncommon in spinsters); cancer of the
prostate is preceded by history of
veneral disease and enlargement of this
gland; cancer of the breast is practi-
cally confined to mothers who have
nursed several children.
In every instance quoted it will be
seen that the affected part of the body
had been subjected to irritation or in
jury. Also, that the parts affected are
always those that communicated with
the outside world. Thus, while there
is cancer of the liver, it never begins
there, but is always secondary to can
GER of the stomach.
Were cancer caused by a micro
organism, no age would be noticably
exempt. But what do we observe in
this connection? That cancer is
strictly disease of middle life, and
NEVER occurs in children. The fact
that it does occur after middle life is
further evidence in support of my con-
tention that it is nothing more nor
less than mass Of degenerated tissue
which requires certain length of
time for its cause to exist and def
mite period for it's effects to develop.
Assuming this theory to be true, let
us see how it would work out in
given case. We know the scar-tissue,
which replaces normal tissue that has
been destroyed, is of low grade. We
likewise know that the lower we go in
the scale Of life the more prolific the
become. On that assump-
tion any scar-tissue in the body that is
subjected to continued irritation is
liable to become cancerous. And once
the process has been started each sue
,eeding generation of cells is more
prolific than it's forebears. The mass
continues to enlarge through multi
olication of it's cells and, because it
destroys everything in its plath, it is
,alled malignant.
Has No Blood Supply
After the mass has reached given
size, it's central portion begins to
break down, as it has no blood supply.
The cells receive no nutrition and they
lie. The low vital resistance of the
mass makes it a ready prey to the &C.
ion of bacteria, especially the pus
kind. AS result, the mass
becomes infected and harbors many
sinds of germs, some of which are
typical and others, because of their
'apid proliferation, less typical. It is
he finding of these latter unrecog-
lized forms in cancerous masses that
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