Evening star., 1926-03-21
BLOOD CELLS HELD
/ CAUSE OF CANCER
Experts at Johns Hopkins
Announce Discovery Which
May Aid in Cures.
BY HAROLD X. PHILIPS,
Staff CnrrasnOndenf of The Star.


announced here today by the depart
ment Of embryoiogy of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington. AS a re-
suit. the hour when the doctor can
treat malignant tumors with assur'
ance Of success equal to that now at
tending the comparatively mild ills of
mankind may have been brought
many wears nearer.
II has been proved, first. that the
destructive mass of at least one type
OF malignant tumor is simply an ac'
cumulation OF white blood cells gone
Violently mad--cells which, for rea-
sons still unknown to science, have
abandoned their normal roles as pro
tectors OF the body and set out upon
an orgy of feasting and abnormalities
which eventually bring about the death
Of the host.
The second discovery is that this
cancer can be transmitted simply by
injecting either the white blood cells
or the blood plasma into the muscles
of perfectly normal body. Not only
will so simple an operation reproduce
the tumor, but it can be carried along
through a series of at least five gen.
erations of cancers without losing
one whit Of it's viruence.
Chickens Used i'm Test.
1t is to woman, Mrs. Margaret
Reed Lewis. of the department of en-
o. bryology. and to a young graduate
student in the school of hygiene of
Johns Hopkins University, Howard
Bancroft Andervont, that goes the
credit for these discoveries, which
throw entirely new light on re-
searches that are being conducted
throughout the world to bring the
dread cancer under definite control.
The tests which resulted in these
discoveries We're made with cancers
common to chickens. Neither Of the
two tumors in question are identical
with those common to man, but they
are similar, it is said. to some dis
turbanceS of the circulatory system
of mankind that consist essentially OF
large masses of white blood cells over
which the body has lost control. SINH
lar tests are now being applied to
mammals TO determine whether the
same results will be obtained
1T had always been supposed,
said Mrs. Lewis, in a statement de-
scribing the work, previous to OBJ
servations by Rous, that the actual
cancer cell itself broke away from the
primary cancer and was carried to
the other organs. When AnderVont
and 1 undertook the study OF the
blood in chickens suffering with
tumor. we found not that the cancer
cell was sometimes present in the
blood, but that the cancer cell was a
blood cell.
Produce Active Agent.
'To be true, it was a greatly
changed white blood cell, but never
theless quite comparable with the
white blood cell which grows in It's
s1le cultures. The cells increased to
such an extent and digested away the
surrounding tissue so rapidly that
they invaded the muscle of the
chicken and were carried to other
organs, where they brought about
the death of the host.
1.-The cells in their overStimulated
condition produce an active agent ana
this agent is present in the blood
stream (plasma) of the tumor chick
en- as well as in the white blood cells
themslevs, for when the white blood
cells are separated from the fiuld,
leaving only the clear plasma, this
pla sma upon innoculation into the
muscle of a chicken produces can
Ger by setting up irritation which
draws the white blood cells to the
region. These cells then become stim-
ulated to abnormal activity by the tu-
mor-producing substance which was
In the plasma.
''It is we'll known fact to all sur
geons that Inflammation itself results
in some growth promoting substance
which effects repair of the injured It's
sue and in some instances results in
greater increase of tissue than was
lost. In any inflammatory reaction,
regardless Of how 1t is brought about.
the white blood cells accumulate in
great numbers and take up and digest
or remove the irritating factor.
Seek Human Data.
"This cannot yet be shown to be
the cause Of cancer, but we have
shown that in the chicken, at least, it
Is the underlying factor concerned in
the production of cancer. Just what it
is that causes the cells to go further
and to enlarge more and multiply
more until instead of repairing the in
jury they invade the tissue and bring
about the death of the host is a mat
ter we hope to know more about later.
whether these results can be ap-
piled TO higher animals or to human
beings has not yet been determined.
There is no question but that the
human cancer is partly made up of
blood cells and that 1t can in some
instances be shown to be the result
of slow intiammatory conditions.
Whet her the active principle is con-
tanned in the blood of human beings
remains to he determined.
"At any rate, the underlying factor
concerned in all the tumors which
have SO far been produced by bacteria,
by virus, by chemicals or by parasites
is SLOW inf1ammatory reaction, with
the resulting accumulation Of white
blood cells in the injured region"
Suggested by Carroll Discovery.
The work just announced by Mrs.
Lewis and Mr.. Andervont was first
suggested by an earlier discovery by
DIR. Alexis Carrell of the Rockefeller
Institute for Medical Research, which
showed that certain types of blood
cells we're carriers for the unknown
infectious agent responsible for cancer
Mrs. Lewis and Mr.. Andevont have
not only substantiated this but they
have gone much further and shown
that the white blood cells are the
cancer mass.
Mrs. Lewis is already known ir
the scientific world for her work in
cytology. She has been a member
of the staff of the department OF
embryology, which is located in one
of the buildings of the School o1
Medicine OF Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity, ever since it's foundation. Hell
husband, DIR. Warren II. Lewis, is g
member of the same staff and he has
made notable contributions to the
study of cancers.
Mr.. Andervont, however, is new t.
.I.arla Of Scianca But Ia ell