Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-08

Some Of the most notable progress
yet made toward the conquest of can
Ger in human beings was revealed at
symposium held under the auspices of
the National Institute of Health at the
Interior Department Auditorium last
night.
| Among the accomplishments reported
were new method of staining tissue
sections by which a diagnosis which
formerly required several days now can
be made in two minutes, the curing of
malignant growths in animals akin to
cancer by the heating action Of high
frequency currents, the cultivation of
cancer cells removed from the human
| body in a suitable medium and the de-
termination Of a specific difference In
the metabolism of malignant cells and
| normal body cells.
The most horrible of all screen vii
lains, the cancer cell itself, was shown
for the first time on the screen-eating
drinking, dancing and multiplying. 1t
was greatly magnified and its actions
speeded up from $40 to $50 times, 40
that this malignant unit Of living mat
ter appeared quite animal-like and the
picture was real thriller.
Surg Gen. Hugh S. Cumming, who
presided, stressed the extreme impor-
lance of the cancer problem and DR..
Joseph c. Bloodgood of Johns Hopkins
University declared that the recent es-
tablishment of the National Institute OF
Health, under the Public Health Serv-
ice, by means of which research could
be conducted on a large scale, might
prove the most notable step ever taken
by any government to conquer the
physical ills of its people.
The war against cancer, II was ex-
planned by the speakers, now has set
tied down to intensive study Of the
physical, biochemical and physiological
properties of the cancer cell itself. This
is extremely 1aborious and time-con-
Stunning, but Is certain to result in slow
progress, while the aimless hunt for
specific cures in the past has con-
tributed practically nothing. 1t was
emphasized that the idea of cancer be-
ing caused by micro-organism invad-
ing the body. which would give sub
stance to hopes for q specific serum,
practically has been abandoned in the
light of accommodating evidence and 1t Is
recognized the key will come from the
minute characters of the cell itself.
Nobody suggested a new cure.
One essential difference has been es-
tablished between the cancer cell and
normal body cells, said Prof Carl
Voegtlin, chief Of the division of pnar-
Health The normal cell depends for
its energy supply, and hence its life,
on the oxidation Of sugar. The cancer
cell derives its energy through splitting
sugar into Tactic acid, a chemical
process which does not require the pres
ence of oxygen.
Study Is Intensive.
Prof. Voegtlin is directing intensive
chemical studies of the cancer cell in
the hope of establishing other differ
ences. This work is rendered extremely
dificult, not only by the extreme COM
plexity of the chemistry of the cancer
cell, but by the relative lack Of scientific
knowledge of the chemical process of
normal cells for purposes Of differen-
tiation.
Eventually, it was stressed, some
chemical difference may be found which
win open the way to- something APP
preaching a chemical specific against
cancer drug OF some sort that wiz
kill cancer cells by blocking some essen
tial and characteristic chemical process
which does not take place in normal
cells. This, Prof Voegtiin stressed, win
be very slow work and may at any time
require the use of animals for test pur-
poses.
At fail to understand" he said, the
efforts of the relatively few well mean
ing. but ignorant, people who are OPP
posed to the use of animals for this sort
Of work Let US hope that wisdom and
real humanitarianism will prevail"
Differentiation Of Tissues.
Differentiation of cancer tissue from
non-malignant tumor tissue in the past
has been made by microscopic examina-
ton of frozen sections properly stained,
it was explained by DR.. Charles F.
Geschickter Of Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Hospital. Preparation OF these sec
tons has required a long time. The
surgeon who finds what looks like
malignant growth inside the body has
been in a difhcult position. He must
decide quickly whether or not to re-
move it He has had no reliable means
of determining what the growth is
without waiting for hours or even days.
With the method of preparing stained
sections Just developed at Johns Hop
kins practically as reliable diagnosis
can be made microscopically while the
operation is in progress. This was &C
complished by laborious tests with all
sorts of dyes and dye solvents and inn
provement of technique until substances
were found just as effective on the
newly removed tissue as on that which
had become dry and fixed in death.
The new technique. DR.. Geschickter
explained, not only is of very great prac-
teal value in surgery, but a notable
advance in the study Of the micro
scopic characteristics Of cancer cells
and their differentiation from normal
cells. The frozen section, dead long
time and necessarily more or less dis
torted, may be quite different from the
living cell. Under this method the cells
can be studied before the death process
has time. to bring about its changes.
Effect of Environment.
Despite the scientific advances, cancer
is gaining ground, said DR.. J. w.
Schereschewsky in charge of the Public
Health Service cancer work at Harvard
University In crude death figures, he
reported, there has been a gain of about
so per cent since 1900, and when the
statistics are corrected as far as posi-
BILE there still Is substantial increase,
which he said was due somehow to the
complex development of the social en-
vironment." He does not believe the
death rate will continue to increase in
definitely, because eventually the human
organism will strike a balance with the
unknown cauSative factors in the en-
vironment
DR.. Schereschewsky reported on the
developments in the use of high fire.
quency currents, running as high as
from 100 900 900 to 200, 000.0 900 cycles
J a second, on growths resembling cancer
in animals. In many cases these
growths completely disappeared while
surrounding normal tissue was unin-
! jured, due to the fact that the thermal
death point for some malignant cells
Is considerably lower than for normal
| cells. This came nearest to a cancer
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