Waging

a tn Pit tii i

the war

against cancer

By JOHN

ogee a day goes by without

some item in the papers, large
or small, about the fight against
eancer. New drugs, new meth-
eds, new tests, new causes are a
topic of constant discussion among
medical men and laymen alike.
Yet the number of deaths from
cancer is growing.

On a world seale, estimates at
the recent International Cancer
Congress in Brazil, admittedly un-
officially and rough, were that
2-3 million ‘people a year die of
this dreaded condition.

What is cancer, and just how
far along is the fight against it?

Although cancer is usually as-
sociated with. mystery there is
no mystery about what a cancer
= & ‘ s
is, or why it kills.

A cancer is a growth, occurring
when certain 'cells in the body
start to multiply wildly without
any of the restraints that keep
normal cells in line. In its early
stages the growth is usually local-
ized, but cancerous cells sooner
or later start to break off from
the parent growth and migrate
via the bloodstream or lymph
stream, setting up secondary
growths through the body.

Seoner or later, if not checked,
the ‘parent growth or one of the
secondary growths either presses

some essential structure, or eats
into some vital organ, or causes
blood folsoning. That is why un-
ehecked cancers are fatal.

This" explanation of what a can-
eer is raises two big questions.

Why does some apparently nor-
mal cell go beserk and start mul-
tiplying wildly? And what en-
ables this process to go on once
it has started? These are the
two great unknowns ‘about can-
cer. Until they are answered,
‘research on curing cancer must
‘go on in half-ignorance

This does not mean that vital
discoveries cannot be made, and
‘have not been, but they have a
semi-accidental character. Not
until the basic questions are solv--
ed can a rounded attack on the
disease he planned. Here is. the
real mystery of cancer.

‘One. path to an answer lies in
the growing knowledge of the.
chemistry of cells.

_. Every cell in the body is un-

dergoing constant chemical
changes, constantly taking in
chemicals from outside, making
the substances it needs’ for its
life-processes from these chemi-
cals, and expelling |the waste
products., This process is called
the metabolism of the cell.

Now. something seems to hap-
pen to the metabolism of the
pre-cancerous cell to make it start
its deadly growth. Just what is
the puzzle. There are many leads
to be followed up, and today it
seems only a matter of time and
money until the answers are

, - found.

This cancerous process does
not take place over night, at
least in most cases. Certain pre-
cancerous conditions have been
found regularly to precede. the
development of the actual can-
cer,

For example, a recent report

STACHEL«:

announces that lung cancers are
always foreshadowed by certain
X-ray markings, hitherto ignored,
by as much as nine years.

Much work is opened up by
such reports as these, as well as
great hope for curing these pre-
caricerous conditions before they
become serious. The remarkable
work in cutting down the death
rate from cancer in the Soviet
Union has largely depended on
these pre-cancerous symptoms.

The People’s Democracies are
also tackling the problem om can-
cer by providing facilities for
regular examinations.

More and more evidence is pil-
ing upon factors that can cause
cancer. The work on cigarettes
and lung cancer has made the
headlines.

It is known that many dye- ~

stuffs and other drugs can cause
cancer. Yet, according to a re-
port at the International Cancer
Conference in July, 100,000

pounds a year of dyestuffs, known
to cause cancer in experimental
animals, are approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
for- our food, ="...

Clearly such jeopardizing of ©

the health of human beings has
to be stopped. :

Many occupations are known
te involve work that can cause
cancer in parts of the body. For
example, certain metal workers
zre liable to respiratory cancers,
while dye workers have a ten-
Gency to develop cancer of the
bladder.

Industrial medicine has a lot

.of work ahead to isolate the fac-

tors which are responsible and
find ways of eliminating them.

American women have’ been

“found to develop half of their
cancers in the breast or sex or-°

gans. Why this happens and
how to prevent it must be in-
vestigated.

Diet has been suggested as a
factor by certain research in
Africa, where the poor diet im-
posed on certain peoples has
been found associated with par-
ticular types of cancer.

Many workers in the field be
lieve that certain types of cancer
are caused by a virus, but not

enough is known to say anything

definite as yet. -

These are only a few of the
leads to the study of cancer that
are known today.

: es
Many fine workers all over the
world in such varied fields -as
chemistry, physiology, medicine,
public health work, are following
up these leads as energetically as
they can.

Yet the fact remains that lack
of money is holding up research
that could be done right away.
The sums being spent are piti-
fully small compared to the hu-
man importance of the work.

What would even one billion
of this money, diverted from war
work to the fight against cancer,
mean to humanity in lives saved
and suffering avoided!

@ This is the first of two articles
“on cancer by John Stachel.
The second will appear next
week,

*

picking up neglected renewals.
regular subscribers.

Some of our press clubs have done a magnificent job, as a glance at the figures below will
show. Others are still lagging a bit, and should make an all-out effort this weekend.

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We want new readers, but we don‘t want to lose any of our

An encouraging sign is the recent pickup in the number of subs renewed voluntarily, and
the donations which accompany them.

’

ONE FINAL PUSH!

SUBS OBTAINED:
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Dear Reader;

This week 166 subs came in, giving us a big boost and making our target of 1,500 subs
and renewals within reach, provided every Pacific Tribune supporter uses the remaining few
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1,275
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The press club directors’ conference will be held about the middle of December, where

plans will be laid for further extending our circulation.
2
. Rita Whyte
GREATER VANCOUVER PROVINCE
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