Evening star. [volume], November 18, 1938, Page A-16, Image 16

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Evidence of Cancer Cause '
Found in Mother's Milk
Discovery May Advance Hunt for
Filterable Virus in Mammals
By THOMAS R. HENRY.
Evidence of a cancer causative
factor In mother’s milk has Just been
reported to the National Cancer
Institute of the United States Pub
lic Health Service by Dr. John J.
Bittner, research worker at the Ros
coe B. Jackson Labratory at Bar
Harbor, Me.
Dr. Bittner has been working
under a grant from the national
cancer research funds administered
by the council. The finding is of
great significance because it shows
definitely an extra-chromosomal
cancer cause. Dr. R. R. Spencer,
executive assistant to the director
of the institute, told the Washington
Academy of Sciences in announcing
the discovery last night.
For some years past, Dr. Maude
Slye in Chicago has been breeding
cancerous strains of white mice,
producing families in which the sus
ceptibility to cancer, handed down
from generation to generation, is
very high. Dr. Bittner took off
spring from strains which very sel
dom develop any cancerous growths
and placed them immediately after
birth with nursing mothers of one
of the cancerous strains, although
these mothers themselves did not
necessarily have any malignant
growths.
Might Apply to Humans.
He has found, according to his re
port to the council, that these young !
animals developed a markedly |
greater number of cancers, of a type I
peculiar to rats, than their brothers j
and sisters which were nursed by j
their own mothers. The fact is
highly suggestive, Dr. Spencer said, |
although it does not necessarily J
mean that the same conditions!
would obtain in human beings.
One of the outstanding hopes of
the council, which is making re
aearch grants to workers all over the
country, Dr. Spencer said, is of iso
lating k mammalian cancer virus,
similar to the filterable viruses
which are responsible for so many |
human and animal diseases.
The general viewpoint at present!
taken by the institute, he said, is
that there are three factors in the ,
causation of malignant growths,
two or more of which may be opera
tive in any particular case. One is
hereditary predisposition, demon
started by Dr. Slve's breeding ex
periments over many generations.
This alone probably is seldom suf
ficient to cause the disease. Next is
the remote cause. Several such have
been demonstrated, such as various
tar products, irritation of tissue, etc.
Such a remote cause, acting upon
tissue already predisposed by hered
ity, sets in operation a “proximate
cause,” presumably something like
g filterable virus.
Remote Cause Definite Factor.
The creation or release of the sub
stance seems to require the remote
cause to set it off. Once the process
Is started, however, the cancer de
velops very rapidly—perhaps in two
or three weeks. It may require
months for the remote cause to set
off the proximate cause, depending
on the susceptibility of the tissue.
Once this happens the remote cause
Is no longer necessary and the
progress of the malignant growth
goes on if it is entirely removed.
Only two such filterable sub
stances have been obtained to date.
One. found years ago and used in
many experiments, is Rous’ chicken
sarcoma virus. One, just reported
to the institute, is from a cancer
found only in frogs. The Rous virus
will cause very rapid cancer forma
tion in other chickens and the frog
virus in other frogs. All efforts to
get anything of the sort out of a
cancer of man or any other mam
mal have proved futile to date.
It is apparently extremely elusive,
Dr. Spencer said, and passes from
cell to cell by "cell heredity.” Thus
a cancer starts slowly, but its prog
ress is accelerated more and more
as there are larger and larger gen
erations of descendants from the
few cells In which the virus was
originally set up.
The workers are more and more
impressed. Or. Spencer said, by the
extreme specificity of this “proxi
mate cause” to a species. The
chicken virus was first isolated from
Plymouth Rock hens. Por a long
time it was impossible to transfer
it and cause any malignant growth
to any other variety of chicken, al
though methods finally were devised
by which this was accomplished.
Other Specie* Immune.
There Is no case on record, Dr.
Spencer said, where it has been
transferred from one species to an
other. Thus the proximate cause of
a rat cancer will not produce a
cancer in man, although both may
be produced by the same remote
causes. Thus the filterable virus,
if such it turns out to be, differs
markedly from all other organisms
of this kind, where the same virus
will produce the same malady in all
animals susceptible to it. Thus the
infantile paralysis virus is specific
only to man and monkeys. But ap
proximately the same effects are
produced in both by virus inter
changed from one to the other.
This specificity and the three-link
chain of causation. Dr. Spencer said,
constitute great hurdles in cancer
research. Many supposed “causes”
of cancer have been announced in
the past only to fall down when
subjected to rigid test. The fact is,
it was stressed, that any one of them
might have produced cancer provid
ed with the heredity predisposition
and the formation of the proximate
cause. The easiest place to break
the chain would probably be at the
last link, but this can came only
with finding the actual virus sub
stance itself from a human cancer.
In spite of the great hurdles. Dr.
Spencer said, the National Insti
tute, headed by Dr. Carl Voegtlin
and Dr. Ludwig Hektoen, are hope
ful of real progress in the most
concentrated drive against any
malady undertaken by a national
government.
Hope for Checking Spread.
Apparently, he said, the cancer
rate has been rising throughout the
civilized world for the past 25 years.
This usually is-attributed to the
fact that with the decline of infant
mortality more persons are living
to the cancer age and to more ac
curate diagnosis and reporting.
The first check on this constant
rise, he said, has just been reported
from Massachusetts and from
Sweden almost simultaneously. In
both places the Incidence rate of
the dreaded disease appears to have
leveled off during the past few years.
If these reports prove valid, Dr.
Spencer said, there is hope that
the rest of the world may halt its
cancer progress by following the
same methods. In Massachusetts
the halt in the rise is attributed to
earlier diagnosis, due largely to
public education. Statistics show
that persons are consulting physi
cians a month or more earlier than
during the period of rapid ascent.
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Shop Saturday at Nisieys,
not only for economy’s sake
but for the pleasure of seeing and
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The Swedish explanation Is un
known.
The Massachusetts statistics are
especially encouraging, it was
pointed out, with respect to lung
cancers, the incidence of which had
shown a quite notable rise. Hiis
may have been due in part to tar
products inhaled from automobile
gases. An Argentine worker has
recently reported finding cancer
producing tars in cigarette smoke
which is inhaled into the lungs, but
the report has not been verified.
Rites for Mrs. Wolford
To Be Tomorrow
Funeral services for Mrs. Sarah
Frances Wolford, 84, who died yes
terday after a three-week illness at
her home, 1820 Clydesdale place
N.Wi, will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow
at the Hysong funeral home with
burial in Columbia Gardens, Va.
Bom in Waterford, Va., Mrs. Wol
ford had been a Washington resident
for the last five years and was an
active social worker for the Metho
dist Church, both here and in Vir
ginia.
Surviving Mrs. Wolford are two
sons and five daughters. I
* — ■ ——————
New York Police
Guard German Ships
24 Hours a Day
Three Details Ordered
On Duty to Prevent
Anti-Nazi Shows
P» the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, Nov. 18.—As a pre
caution against anti-Nazi demon
strations, police headquarters today
ordered a 24-hour guard at the
North German-Lloyd and the Ham
burg American Line pier*.
Deputy Chief Inspector Louis P.
Costuma said the first detail of 5
sergeants, 50 foot patrolmen, 1
mounted sergeant and 10 mounted
patrolmen would go on duty at 4
p.m. One sergeant and 10 foot
patrolmen will go on duty at mid
night and 3 sergeants, 30 foot patrol
men and 5 mounted men will take
over at 8 a.m.
Costuma said the three 8-hour
details would be continued until fur
ther notice.
A shouting parade of pickets esti
mated by police at from 4,500 to
5,000 gave a noisy send-off to the
North Oerman-Lloyd liner Bremen
Tuesday night with denunciations of
the Nazi government's antt-Jewlsh
policies.
The demonstration was arranged
by the New York State Communist
Committee protesting recent events
in Germany.
Careful police preparations, in
which more than 200 patrolmen and
detectives participated, resulted in
part from a request by the State
Department in Washington for pro
tection of German shipping and the
desman consulate here.
The home of Consul General Hans
Borchers was guarded today by
three solemn Jewish officers, Capt.
Max Flnkelstein, Lieut. Jacob Llcker
and Sergt. Isaac Goldstein, posted
there at the request of Mayor La
Guardia.
"In these days there is a need for
equanimity," remarked Borchers.
Nazi officials in Berlin called it a
"poor Joke.”
—— ■ 9- ■ » —
Farm Tests Go On
Russia will continue its experi
ments in the barren area around the
Aral Sea, where it hopes to And more
land suitable for cultivation and
where already big crops of potatoes,
carrots and onions have been raised.
Establithtd 41 Ytm* Agt
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2153 Pa. Ave. N.W.
Leg Lamb.._lb. 19c
Shoulder Lamb_lb. He
Sliced Bacon l/2 lb. pkg. 12y»c
Breast of Lamb_lb. 10c
Baking & Stewing Fowl lb. 22c
Chuck Roast Beef..lb. 15c-18c
Smoked Sausage_lb. j|c
Selected Eggs...dos. 30c
Fat Back _lb. 9c
Chestnuts_2 lbs. 25c
Black Walnuts_lb. 5c
Good Grapefruit_4 for 10c
Head Lettuce _10c
Lge. Sweet Potatoes 4 lbs. 10c
Lge. Fancy Celery_bun. 5c
Kale or Turnip Tops, 3 lbs. 10c
Fancy String Beans lb. 5c
Apple Vinegar-gal. 25c
(Jug Free)
Spinach-lb. §c
Fancy Lemons-doz. 10c
Fancy Small Round or
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u>. 23c n>. 25c
Large Smoked - _ .
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Small Lean Fancy Small
Fresh Shoulders Fresh Hams
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No ] Fancy Rabbits
Potatoes 1 35c eft. |
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