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.

As soon as the drive is over I hope to visit several localities and give our readers a hand 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: SUBS NEEDED:

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 ‘days of the campaign to go door-knocking.

1,275 225

The press club directors’ conference will be held about the middle of December, where

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