Evening star., 1948-10-08
Stars, Men and Atoms
>.
Poisonous Sugar Tested
In Cancer Experiments
Combined With Exploding Atoms
OF Iodine to Kill Tumor Cells
By Thomas r. Henry


A complex sugar, extremely poisonous, which
is obtained from common bacteria found
abundantly in sewage. is being combined with
exploding atoms Of iodine in . new expert.
mental approach to the cancer problem.
The sugar, obtained from the relatively in.
nocuous micro-organism serraia macrescens,
which often occurs In the human intestinal
tract, has an exceptional ability to kill cancer
cells. Even in mice, however, . dose sufncient
to destroy q malignant tumor kills the animals,
and experiments at the National Cancer In.
stitute show that . mouse, on q weight basis,
can take . dose 1000 times greater than can
. human being.
In the latter . dose Of o few ten thou.
sandths Of q gram 1t was found, Is the maxi.
mum that can be tolerated. Such . minuts
amount produces some destruction Of human
cancer but not enough to be Of any real value.
1t also sometimes produces high fever and
circulatory collapse
Report Tells Of Tests
Work with the new sugar which has been
used only on persons with inoperable and in
durable cancers, Is described in joint report
from the National Cancer Institute the Beth
Israel Hospital of Boston and Harvard UNI
versity.
1t has been found that radioactive iodine
can be combined with the sugar. Because
Of the affinity of the material for cancer
cells, the exploding atoms, much less poison.
Gus. can be carried directly to the place where
their destructive radiations will be most ef.
fective. They also make 1t possible to trace
the course OF the sugar in the body
None OF the cases to date has been mate
rally benefited by the maximum possible dose.
The significance lies in the fact that ways
may be found to make this sugar less poison
GUS, so that much larger doses combined with
short-lived radioactive isotopes can be used
1T the toxicity Of this agent can be reduced
sufficiently to enable patients to tolerate doses
comparable to those effective in tumor bear
ing MICE" says the report Of Drs Arnold M.
seligman and M. j. Shear, extensive destruc-
ton Of tumor tissue might be obtained regu-
larly"
hopeful sign is the fact that some toler-
ance may be acquired with repeated small
doses.
Discovery of nine new white dwarf stars has
been announced by DR.. William ]. Luyten, pro-
fessor Of astronomy at the University of Min
nesota and David McLeish Of the Cordoba
Observatory in Argentina.
This raises to nearly 100 the known stars Of
this class, probably the strangest objects yet
found in the heavens. Those hitherto known
have been mostly in the skies over the North.
ern Hemisphere.
cubic inch Of the matter composing these
stars weighs from one to q thousand tons.
Theoretically one may exist several hundred
fold heavier. 1t has not yet been discovered.
Link In Atomic Chain.
They presumably are composed Of stripped
atoms-atonic nuclei stripped Of all their outer
electrons and pressed close together. Any mat
ter known on earth Is mostly empty space.
The distances Of the revolving electrons from
the nuclei are comparable to the distances Of
the planets from the sun.
OF the white dwarfs now known 81 have
been found through work on the motions Of
stars at the University Of Minnesota working
in cooperation with the University of Arizona
and Cordoba University The first was discov-
cred by its gravitational effects on nearby
stars long before 1t actually was seen with .
telescope.
These stars although dwarfs in every re-
spect from size to the amount of light shed,
are very hot on their surfaces. They shine
with . light much whittier than that Of the
sun and often become blue in color. Their
discovery and significance not only caused .
minor revolution in astronomical thinking but
forged another and very important link In
the chain Of events leading to the atomic
bomb.