Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14
First Objective of War on Cancer
Is to Find Exact Nature of Cell
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eContinued from Third Page.)
which permits US to take any cell and
give it an injection, through minute
glass pipette, of some drug or chemical
and then see what happenS-whether
it dies or whether it RECEIVERS.
The cells can be cut in two under the
microscope and the two halves watched
to see whether they are capable of
further growth. We can inject dyes
and see whether the cell is acid or aka
line inside, and how acid or how aka
line, or whether it has acid spots to
digest food, as does the ameba.
The ameba, in fact, seems to enjoy
being cut in two and filled full of vari-
GUS fluids. 1t often goes on happily as
two amebas instead of one after such
astounding microscopic surgery, for all
these diSSections have to be made under
the high-power microscope, of course.
1t Is even possible to take a human red
blood cell and give 1t an injection Of
some substance and see what happens.
None Of these things seem very practi-
cal as yet, but we must always remem-
Der that famous answer, attributed to
both Benjamin Franklin and Faraday:
When some business man asks the
| practical value Of q thing, he retorted
by asking, what is the practical value
Of baby?
In other words, the nature of the
simple must first be known before the
complex can be understood. Almost all
OF the work with cancer in the past has
been the observation of masses Of cancer
cells and the destructive effects which
they produce. Now we are getting to
a position, with the slow improvements
in technique of growing cells, to ask
very impertinent and confidential ques-
tions Of the cancer cell and see in what
way 1t differs from the normal cell from
which 1t sprang.
All we know now is that 1t differs
from the normal cell in the capacity
for indefinite growth inside the body.
! The normal cell can also grow indef-
nitely outside the body, for DR.. Carrel
has kept the chickens heart cells grow
ing for 10 years in a culture tube, but
( that Is different matter. That same
cell could not have grown for 18 years
/ inside the body. For some reason that
we do not know, the normal cells of the
/ body stop growing at certain fixed
! periods; otherwise we would all be
giants. They do necessary repairs only
| when cells are damaged, but some Of
our body cells-for instance, those of
the brain-stop growing as soon as we
are born. We are never able to get
new brain cell II one Is destroyed. We
| can get new pieces Of bone and repairs
of other sorts following injury, but
never brain cells.
Why this is so, no one knows. Why
connective tissue cells from a chick can
grow in culture for 10 years and why
they cannot grow that long in hen is
also something we do not know. Why
a cancer cell can grow in the body until
the patient dies, though it seems to be
just like normal cell, we do not know
We assume obviously that it has certain
different qualities, but, unfortunately,
those qualities are not very obvious. 1t
has been found that the cancer cell can
digest sugar more effectively than most
, normal cells, but some normal cells can
do the same thing; it therefore is not a
characteristic Of cancer cells alone.
What the scientist wants Is to dis
cover as many as possible OF the diff
ferenceS between the two cells If there
is striking difference, 1t might be
possible to attack that function of the
cell without at the same time damag-
ing the normal cell. II we can never
find such a differentiation, then the
only way to cure cancer is to cut it
out by surgery or burn it out with X-ray
or radium, or some similar means. which
Is a gross. destructive method and can
= be applied only to early cases and in
favorable situations.
But If 1t could be found that the
J cancer cell would seine poison which