Controllable Cancers

If doctors tackled the social and biological causes of cancer as zealously as its mysterious microscopic origin, they could reduce the U.S. total of 155,000 deaths a year from cancer.

Such is the claim of one of the most practical and optimistic cancer articles of recent years, published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Author: Dr. William Cramer of the top-flight Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital in St. Louis. On Dr. Cramer's list of controllable cancers:

Cancer of the Stomach, which accounts for more than 30% of all cancers in the U.S., and kills at least 150 middle-aged persons every day. Almost half of these victims could be saved by surgery, says Dr. Cramer, if they saw a doctor as soon as their stomachs kicked up. For there are three easily detectable "pre-cancerous" states: 1) stomach ulcers, which sometimes become malignant; 2) polyps (small growths) in the lining of the stomach; 3) chronic gastritis (inflammation of the lining of the stomach, with symptoms of burning nausea, vomiting, etc.). Persons whose relatives have gastric cancer should be doubly vigilant, for susceptibility to the disease tends to run in families.

Breast Cancer, which first shows up as tiny lumps in the breast, and can also be cured if removed early. (The percentage of breast-cancer victims who reach a surgeon in time for operation has risen from 23% in 1920 to 61% in 1935, because more women are on the lookout for suspicious nodes.) This type of cancer is apparently caused by abnormal activity of female sex hormones, acting in balance with the pituitary and adrenal glands. Breast cancer definitely runs in families.

Occupational Cancers, which are caused by external environmental agents such as X rays, radium rays, ultraviolet rays, certain complex tar and benzine compounds, hundreds of other carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals. Farmers and sailors may develop skin cancer through long exposure to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight. Cotton spinners in Britain, who are constantly exposed to the carcinogenic mineral oil used in lubricating the spindles, may develop "mule spinners' cancer" of the scrotum. Obviously, said Dr. Cramer, occupational cancer is a "preventable disease." Social Cancers, an expression coined by Dr. Cramer, which include cancers of the esophagus, stomach, upper digestive tract --all especially common in the lower economic groups. One reason for this prevalence, said the doctor, is the "banal" fact of widespread tooth decay, or "in plain English, a dirty mouth." Improper chewing and constant swallowing of infected matter produce dangerous physical and chemical irritation of the digestive tract. Prevention of this form of cancer involves a change "in mode and habits of life."

Liver Cancer, rare in the U.S. and Europe, but the most common form of the disease in the Orient and Africa. Reason: the Oriental diet consists chiefly of rice and vegetables. This diet makes the liver susceptible to cancerous destruction by some unknown agent. In Occidental countries, the liver is resistant to the unidentified cancer factor because it is protected by diets of milk, dairy products, wheat flour. These facts, said Dr. Cramer, show that cancer of the liver, at least, can be prevented by proper food.

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