Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1955-08-04
MianiScientist
Fights Cancer
With Research

w A&AA n AN/APN&NA III
The American Cancer Society
disclosed that a broad attack on
cancer - its causes, prevention
and treatment with drugs and
antiserums 49, has met with some
success in animal experiments at
the University of Miami.
The research, done under the
direction of DR.. Wilhelmina F.
Cunning, is supported by the
American Cancer Society and the
T. S. Public Health Service.
Dr. Dunning uses a standard
method of inducing liver cancer
in rats - she puts in their food
a chemical called 2-acetylamino-
fluorene, or AAF. On this diet
male rats develop liver cancer in
about four months and female
rats develop it in about 10
months.
The scientist has found that
she can delay the onset of the
cancer by month or so - and
quit often prevent it altogether
- by feeding the animals a spe-
cial yeast which is rich in nucleic
acids. Nucleic acids and protein
are the essential components of
all living substances.
Something in this special kind
of yeast, produced only for ex-
perimental purposes, adds 10 per-
cent or longer to the time it
takes the tumors to develop.
The cancer inhibiting factor is
not the nucleic acids - at least
not solely the nucleic acids.
When DR.. Dunning fed the
animals nucleic acids instead of
the yeast, cancers appeared on
schedule.
DIR. Dunning uncovered another
phenomenon of cancer. She
showed that when large amounts
of tryptophan are added to the
diets or rats receiving AAF al
most all the animals develop
bladder cancer. Tryptophan is
an amino acid - building
block of protein. We take it in
in many foods and use it to build
the vital materials for cell struc-
ture and to generate energy. 1t
also becomes pigment which
colorS our tissues.
The body changes tryptophan
into class of compounds called
aromatic amineS. Some of the
amines are chemically close to
analine dyes, which are known
to cause bladder cancer among
Industrial workers over.exposed
to them.
The scientist also found that
tryptophan sped up and increased
the incidence of breast cancers
induced with female hormones.
Scientist long ago learned that
diets deficient in iodine cause
goiter enlargement of the thy
roid gland) in humans. Some
scientists feel that certain types
of goiter are a forerunner of
thyroid cancer.
The Thyroid gland produces an
Important hormone, thryoxin,
which is composed in part of
iodine. The gland takes the
iodine out of the blood and in
corporates it in the, hormone.
When the diet does not contain
enough iodine, the gland grows
and becomes goiterous in a
heroic attempt to produce the
hormone which is urgently need.
ed in many areas of the body.
The enlarged gland may produce
more hormone than is needed or
less.
DR.. Dunning removed iodine
from the rat diet. Some strange
things happened as a conse-
quence.
Breast cancer 49, common in
mice, particularly in those infect
ed with a certain virus - is very
rare in rats, but it was induced
in some rats by the injection of
female sex hormone. Other rats
similarly treated did not develop
breast cancer.
The Miami scientist found that
rats that did not develop breast
cancer failed to respond to the
iodine-deficient diet - their thy
roid glands were from so to 100
percent smaller than the thyroids
TO cancerous rats.
The rats with normal thyroids
and no breast cancer matured