Smyrna times., 1963-02-28

ence cures cancer2
This question has taken on
new urgency In the minds of
many since the deaths of four
Hollywood actors within 8 days
of each other--Charles Laugh
ton, Thomas Mitchell, Jack Car
son and Dick Powell.
The impact of these head
lines touched off what was de-
scribed as a "mild panic" a
mong Southern California men,
who pushed into cancer detec-
don centers in record numbers.
That cure will be found for
cancer seems we'll nigh ineV-
table. More research and more
scientific articles touch on this
subject than any other, includ-
ing space and radiation--one of
the causes of cancer.
1t is a subject which per-
vades every medical specially,
and forms the basis for what
is probably the biggest worry
In the United States today, out
stripping even the individuals
concern over nuclear war. Sud-
den death can't compete with the
idea of lingering suffering, which
cancer conjures in the minds
of many.
81 had the unhappy task of
telling a man that the chest
pains he was experiencing were
due to a bad heart" recalls
one specialist. "Imagine my
surprise when the patient
breathed a sigh of relief and
said, Thank goodness. | thought
1t was lung cancer.
But despite all the man-hours
all the millions of dollars and
all the hope and fear that have
been poured into scientific rev.
olution of the Twentieth Gen.
tury, the disease remains lar
gely an enigma. Nobody pre-
tends to really know when can
Ger will be cured, or even what
causes it.
Where mankind stands in re-
lation to cancer was made evil
dent at the American Medical
Associations recent clinical
meeting in Los Angeles. The
picture is not as gloomy as
some would have you believe,
for the chaos that pervaded the
field a few decades ago has
been largely cleared away. We
seem to be coming down to
cases with the disease.
For one thing there is finally
a high degree of agreement on
just what cancer is--a disease
of the cells and growth gone
haywire.
Certain agents (carcinogens)
such as some chemical COM
pounds, along with radiation and
possible some viruses, seem to
have the ability to alter some
body cells and spur them into
prolific uncontrolled reproduc- :
ton. These unnatural cells null
tiply so rapidly that they de-
stroy or crowd out normal cells
and tissues.
The mechanism of this growth
is believed to be centered in
the genes of the cells--the
chemical molecules of the nu-
cleus which dictate the func-
uons of the cell.
When these molecules are
disrupted by foreign chemicals,
invaded by a virus, or changed
by spears of radiation, then the
normal dictates from the nu-
cleus are altered. For some
reason these alterations often
touch off cancerous growth.
Since all this activity takes
place in a minute world that
can't even be viewed by an e.
lectron microscope, finding out
what changes take place in the
cell nucleus and how to stop
it, is highly intricate and as
yet unresolved task.
So, while we can say what
cancer Is and how cancer goes
about its destruction, we still
can't say why cancer is--the
factor which would most clear
ly point the way to cure or
a preventative.
Ignoring all this, many re-
searchers have struck out di-
rectly In search of a cure
a process which requires not
only high degree of know
ledge but years of patience,
as well as little luck.
So far thousands and thouS-
ands of drugs have been tested
In the hope of finding one that
would inhibit cancer. Some,
such as thio-tepa and flourour =
acil, have shown enough pro-
mise to spur hopes that we
might be on the tract of a
cure at last.
New techniques are being de-
vised constantly--the latest in
volving the use of highly toxic
drugs which are injected into
the blood supply of the cancer
tumor.
All OF this, OF course, is a
long way from the type of cure
that penicillin, for instance,
has made possible in the case
of pneumonia.
But as we learn more; as we
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