The development of cancer in lupus areas is now of sufficiently frequent occurrence to demand attention. Whether the epithelium which gives rise to it is to be accounted for by Cohnheim’s hypothesis, as having been cut off in the course of healing and become a cell rest to subsequently undergo malignant degeneration, is not yet settled. It has been suggested that curettage might cause fragments of epidermis to be loosened and then entangled in the cicatrix, and thus be responsible for subsequent malignant changes. When lupus thus degenerates it assumes usually the papillomatous form, which rarely involves lymph nodes, while the change which follows x-ray treatment often succeeds a hyperkeratosis and rapidly involves gland structure.

Rodent ulcer allies itself with the type of tubular epithelioma springing from the outer sheath of the hair follicle, sending out cylindrical processes which freely blend with one another. It is to be regarded as an equally malignant type of ulceration with other cancerous ulcers, and demands the same thorough and radical measures for its relief as do other forms of epithelioma. It is perhaps the most favorable one with which to deal, because of the usual freedom from involvement of deep lymphatics. No distinctive measures are necessary for its relief—only those which are thorough.

Carcinoma.

—Carcinoma is a tumor springing from preëxisting gland tissue, which it more or less closely resembles in type, save that the structural similarity is incomplete, the epithelial cells now collecting in irregular clusters, or filling the acini and obstructing the ducts, or bursting beyond the basement membrane and invading the surrounding tissues. They frequently so fill the ducts as to appear in columnar arrangement when seen under the microscope, and this has given rise to the use of a term so vague as to have no place in pathology—i. e., cylindroma. Carcinomas may arise from any of the secreting glands, but more commonly from some than from others. They have no capsules. They infiltrate the surrounding tissues, usually involve the lymphatics early, are liable to spread to the superficial tissues and to ulcerate, and to undergo various degenerative changes. Nearly all cancerous tumors abound in lymphatics, which will explain the rapidity with which the lymph nodes become infected, as well as the tendency to dissemination, which is characteristic of these growths. Dissemination leads to so-called secondary or metastatic growths, which may make their appearance in any organ or tissue, even in the bones, where they give rise to changes of texture that make spontaneous fracture easy. It is characteristic of carcinoma that the metastatic tumors which it may produce will reproduce almost perfectly the type of the primary tumor whence the embolic fragments which have produced them spring. The amount of dissemination varies exceedingly: it may even become so marked and widespread as to produce a condition analogous to that met with in miliary tuberculosis—miliary carcinosis. A similar condition, much more rare, is seen in dissemination of sarcoma, and is known as miliary sarcomatosis. A constantly spreading cancerous infiltration of the superficial tissues, which is noted most often after mammary cancer, is described under the form of cancer en cuirasse, or jacket or corset cancer. Instances will be seen in which this infiltration of the surrounding structures has extended nearly or even completely around the thorax. It gives rise to a brawny induration which is unyielding, and is studded here and there by nodules that tend to ulcerate, to fungate, and to bleed easily. It is perhaps the most hopeless form of cancerous disease.

The older writers have constituted two or three clinically distinct forms of carcinoma, based mainly upon the relative hardness or softness of the tumor and the invaded tissues. The term scirrhus is thus applied to a tumor in which connective tissue preponderates and epithelial cells are relatively deficient. On the other hand, the term encephaloid has been applied to a tumor in which the connective tissue seems barely sufficient to hold the mass together, while the epithelial cells are in vast preponderance. These are all tumors of the round epithelial-cell type, and these distinctions are of clinical interest, yet have no great pathological import, save that in a general way the greater the proportion of epithelial elements the sooner will life be terminated by destructive processes. In other words, the more the tumor may partake of the encephaloid type the worse the prognosis or the shorter the probable duration of life. Again, these tumors pursue a varying clinical course. In those tumors, particularly of the scirrhus type, where the connective tissue largely preponderates, there is often an eventual reduction in the size of the part involved, and such reduction of vascularity and of nutritive activity that the rate of growth is thereby perceptibly checked. The so-called atrophying cancers of the breast are the best examples of this type of cancerous disease. Here the volume of the gland is diminished rather than augmented, and the disease may last for a number of years. It is questionable whether it is well to operate.

The so-called colloid forms of cancer are simply the expression of pathological changes occurring in growths of more distinct type. Thus colloid softening may occur in any tumor in which cancer cells predominate, and the so-called colloid cancers of the peritoneum, the ovary, etc., are either examples of such alterations or are possibly endotheliomas arising in these locations. The term villous cancer, with other terms like it, should be expunged from all scientific literature, unless these terms are used in purely adjective and clinical sense, for they imply nothing accurate as to histological structure, and are often misleading and inaccurate.

Carcinoma is most common in the following regions:

In the breast it appears particularly in two forms:

• 1. Acinous Cancer; and
• 2. Duct Cancer.

1. Acinous Carcinoma.

—Acinous carcinoma is usually of the scirrhus type. It may arise at any portion of the breast, and if anywhere near the nipple it will cause retraction of that prominence, which is always pathognomonic; elsewhere it leads to puckering and adhesion of the overlying skin. These tumors infiltrate widely, especially along the connective-tissue stroma and the fibrous tissue which intersperses the fat of the breast. They are usually firm and sometimes exceedingly dense. A form of scirrhus known as atrophying scirrhus consists largely of strands of fibrous tissue, injected here and there with epithelial cells. It is the slowest in growing of all the forms of cancer, and by its contraction tends to reduce rather than augment the size of the mamma.

Acinous cancer is rare before the age of thirty, most common between forty and fifty. It occurs in women in all conditions of life, married and single, but is rarely noted in the male breast. The most dangerous form is that which appears during lactation. Ordinarily its progress is slow. As it augments in volume it infiltrates the surrounding tissues, becomes adherent to the pectoral fascia, infiltrates the muscle fibers, and finally attaches itself to the periosteum of the ribs. The infiltrated tissues tend to shrink rather than to increase in volume. Lymphatic injection occurs early in this form, and is a pathognomonic sign. It occurs mostly in the axillary lymphatic nodes, but may often be detected in the neck above the clavicle. When the skin is involved there is a tendency toward ulceration and fungoid condition. This is preceded by the purplish appearance of the tense skin. (See Plate XXVII.)

Pain is an uncertain and variable feature. It is important to emphasize this fact, as many of these conditions have been lightly regarded because of freedom from pain. Pain is not a constant phenomenon in cancer. On the other hand, it is sometimes intense, either localized or radiating and referred to distant points. Pain is particularly noticed in cases which assume the form of cancer en cuirasse. Secondary deposits in viscera frequently occur, particularly in the abdominal organs and the lungs; but any organ may be the seat of secondary infection, and this is found occasionally in the bone-marrow, not alone of the sternum or ribs, but of distant bones, and is called marrow injection. As the result of cancerous affection of serous membranes effusions of fluid frequently take place, as in the pleura, peritoneum, and pericardium, and this fluid is often blood-stained.

In consequence of pressure upon the venous trunks in the axilla there is often a swelling of the arm upon the affected side, dropsical in character, known as lymphatic edema. The arm grows heavy, the patient loses control of it, and the skin may become so distended by effusion as to cause the limb to resemble a cast. This is due not alone to pressure upon the veins but to involvement of the lymphatics, and upon careful examination positive dilatation of the lymphatic vessels may be noted. Pain is a usual accompaniment of this form of edema.

2. Duct Carcinoma.

—This appears especially about the time of the menopause, when glandular structure has disappeared and only ducts remain. It is common, without reference to cancer in these instances, to find cystic dilatation of numerous ducts, which vary in size from a mustard seed to that of a cherry. These are referred to by Sutton and others as involution cysts. They are filled with mucoid material and have a bluish tint. They occur usually upon the under surface of the gland. Such cystic breasts are common, and when appearing in diffused form may be easily mistaken for cancer. Pain is not frequent. This condition is certainly a precancerous stage, since the dilated ducts are often the starting points of cancer, and occasionally of papillomatous or villous outgrowths from their walls.

Duct cancer implies the form which arises in these dilated ducts, most commonly in the terminal branches, appearing ordinarily as a single tumor, but sometimes as a mass of separate nodules. Intracystic and intracanalicular growths of this character are often found. When assuming the truly cancerous phases they may be spoken of as duct cancers, otherwise as duct papillomas. They have generally been referred to as intracanalicular fibromas. Duct cancers are less tense than the preceding variety, and when situated near the surface often discolor the skin. It is from these cases that there is seen a more or less abundant discharge of fluid resembling bloody milk. These tumors grow slowly, lymphatic involvement is late, and in general they present the least malignant forms of breast cancer.

Carcinoma of sebaceous glands is by all means most common in those specialized glands named after Tyson, occurring about the prepuce. They give rise to the usual forms of cancer in this locality.

Carcinoma in the prostate is not common, and is usually confined to old men. Infiltration proceeds around the base of the bladder at the same time and binds the pelvic viscera together. The pelvic lymphatics become early infected and dissemination is frequent. (See Prostatic Hypertrophy.)

Carcinoma in the salivary glands is not common; it is more frequent in the parotid region, occurring at middle life, growing rapidly, infiltrating surrounding parts, and tending to ulceration.

Carcinoma of the liver varies in its arrangement and appearance. Sometimes it appears in the form of nodules; at other times, as a more diffuse malignant infiltration by cells relatively abundant in number, so that the clinical aspects of the case conform rather to the encephaloid or medullary type.

Carcinoma of the kidney was formerly described as encephaloid, meaning thereby simply a malignant tumor of soft structure. It is probable that a large proportion of these tumors were sarcomas. Nevertheless, true carcinoma of the kidney is possible.

Carcinoma of the ovary may originate as such, or be the result of a transformation from an ovarian cystoma (see above). No better illustration can be offered of the infectivity of cancer cells (be the secret of this infectivity what it may) than the rapid dissemination of cancer throughout the peritoneal cavity, which sometimes follows the removal of an apparently non-malignant tumor which is undergoing this change.

On the other hand, in the testicle such tumors are common—more so than sarcomas. It is likely that many of them arise from the paradidymis.

Carcinoma of the stomach is a frequent disease. It involves the tubular glands, especially in the pyloric region, and conforms to them in type. After involving the mucosa it spreads to the entire coats of the stomach and infiltrates adjacent structures, while the mesenteric lymphatics are usually early and notably involved. Were it possible to recognize this involvement early in the course of the disease diagnosis of pyloric cancer and operative interference would be much more common and hopeful. Secondary involvement is generally in the adjoining viscera, but may be seen at a distance. Miliary carcinosis has been noted after pyloric cancer. This form usually occurs between the fortieth and sixtieth years of life, the duration of the disease not being long.

In the intestine, and particularly in the rectum, carcinoma proceeds also from the mucous glands, and tends constantly to extend at its periphery and involve the entire lumen of the bowel. It seems to be inseparable from a tendency to contraction of the gut and consequent annular stricture. Ulceration, favored by surface irritation and infection, occurs almost always early. Above the rectum it usually occurs in the neighborhood of the sigmoid flexure. Cripps has observed that when cancer of the rectum spreads downward and involves the anus, it loses its typical glandular character and assumes the type of epithelioma, or squamous-cell cancer. In these cases the pelvic and mesenteric lymphatics are infiltrated and metastatic affections are common.

Carcinoma may appear in any portion of the uterus, but is more common in the lower than in the upper half. It assumes the type of the cervical glands, spreads rapidly, infiltrates widely, ulcerates early, and disseminates frequently. By extension of ulceration the formation of urinary and of fecal fistulæ is common. Pyosalpinx and hydrosalpinx are also favored, while the spread of the disease is, in fact, more common when it involves the cervix than when it involves the uterine fundus.

Malignant Chorion Epithelioma.

—This has also been called deciduoma malignum, a malignant growth of chorionic epithelium. Inasmuch as this tumor also includes a syncytial layer it has been known as syncytioma. Such tumors usually contain elements derived from both layers of the chorion. They follow pregnancy, generally within a few months, and are often preceded or accompanied by a hydatidiform mole. This growth constitutes a malignant neoplasm. It pertains to ulcerating uterine growths characterized by early extensive metastasis, which prove fatal. It has been shown that similar growths occur not only in the uterus but also in the testicle, and thus the scope of the term has been much enlarged. In its biology it resembles the sarcoma; in its histology, the carcinoma. It is more malignant than any other known growth. (See Plate XXVIII.)

Occurring within the uterus its most important clinical feature is a tendency to frequent and alarming hemorrhage. When occurring about the testicle this trouble rapidly becomes fungoid, bleeding easily and excessively, the lungs being among the first organs to show metastasis, which takes place through the blood as well as the lymphatic vessels, for the cells of these growths seem to penetrate the capillaries. By the time a diagnosis is made a case is likely to be too far advanced to admit of radical treatment. If scrapings could be examined early, shreds of syncytioma would be found, and it might be possible that a complete hysterectomy would be of use.

Metastatic nodules consist mostly of round, dark masses presenting a more or less pronounced fibrous structure. These are generally found in the lungs and cerebrum, where the vessels are large and the tissues soft. There is usually a sharp contrast between such a tumor and the surrounding tissues. The time which elapses between delivery and the appearance of the growth is from three to ten weeks. The tumor rapidly spreads to the upper portion of the vagina. The trouble probably begins some time before delivery.

The latest tendency among pathologists is to refer a growth of this kind to the teratomas. In women this tumor is particularly a teratoid growth, some cells of the fecundated ovum giving rise to neoplasms, while the ovum itself thus derived may misdevelop into a hydatidiform mole. The tumor may be properly regarded as consisting in effect of fetal cells; it is built up of these cells, without bloodvessels and connective tissue, and so belongs to a class by itself. Occurring in women it is almost always a consequence of pregnancy; occurring in the testicle or in the ovary it should be regarded as proceeding from ectodermal cells. For their treatment the earliest and most radical measures only will suffice.

Suprarenal Epithelioma; Hypernephroma.

—Grawitz has distinctly established the right of these tumors to separate consideration, for he first determined their origin and identity. Hypernephroma is a tumor, found mainly in the kidney, composed of adrenal rests, or bits of accessory suprarenal tissue imprisoned within the renal capsule. Their minute structure is often that of the adrenals, with a tendency toward the type of perithelioma. They have hitherto been considered examples of sarcoma of the kidney, but are to be abruptly distinguished from it in most instances. Tumors of this character have also been found within the capsule of the liver and along the spermatic artery. In the kidney the tumor portion is usually distinct from the renal tissue; it is often enclosed within a sort of capsule, and rarely connects with the pelvis. Hence, though exceedingly liable to hemorrhages, blood rarely escapes by the ureter. Hypernephroma is delicate in structure, and its vessels give way readily. After this has happened a true hematoma may result. (See Plate XXVIII.)

Similar neoplasms form in the adrenals themselves. These tumors vary in degree of malignancy, some of them scarcely deserving the designation malignant. They may be met at any age, but are more common in adult life. Before removal they are not to be differentiated from other tumors of the kidney. Their cells manifest this peculiarity in that they contain a notable percentage of glycogen. It should also be added that even in true sarcoma of the kidney proliferating adrenal elements may be found.

GENERAL DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF MALIGNANT GROWTHS.

The following tables are here inserted, trusting that they may aid the young practitioner in distinguishing in a general way between benign and malignant tumors, and even in making a diagnosis between sarcoma and carcinoma. I have also inserted a table differentiating the clinical appearances of epithelioma and of lupus. In these tables comprehensiveness has not been aimed at, rather simplicity, while it is not denied that cases are met with in which diagnosis may be exceedingly difficult, and in which the common signs herein mentioned may be found either absent or misleading:

Table I.—Differentiation between Benign and Malignant Growths.

Table II.—Diagnosis between Sarcoma and Carcinoma.

Differential diagnosis between epithelioma and ulcerating gumma will be found in Chapter X.

Table III.—Diagnosis between Epithelioma and Tuberculosis (Lupus).

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING CANCER.

Cancer is one of the most fatal of diseases, yet has no symptomatology of its own. It produces no symptoms which may not be produced by other affections, and this lack of pathognomonic features constitutes one of the great difficulties in diagnosis. It may disturb every function of the part involved. Experimenters have sought in vain for a distinctive feature by which the disease can be recognized; neither in the blood nor in the various organic tissues have such changes been found that can be explained only on the hypothesis of cancer. The pain which it is supposed to cause is often lacking, and is extremely variable and uncertain. The cachexia of its terminal stages is not characteristic, no matter how pronounced, and may be explained by a variety of conditions, all of which may accompany the disease. The search for the suspected parasites cannot be made with such certainty as to lead to any definite conclusions. It is known by a complex of clinical conditions or by microscopic sections of tissues already removed.

When the disease is superficial it is easily recognized, but when deep-seated, recognition comes later.[15]

The microscopic picture may explain considerable in regard to the future as well as the past. For instance, in a case of sarcoma the presence of small, round cells, and especially of pigment, bespeaks a degree of malignancy which probably nothing yet known can baffle. A chemical examination of the tumor after removal may make the surgeon alert regarding the future of the case, according to the amount of glycogen contained within the mass, since the glycogen content is in direct proportion to its malignancy. For a while some reliance was placed upon the percentage of urea elimination, but this is influenced by so many factors as to have proved unreliable.

The relations which cancer bears to other diseases are of considerable interest. Those between cancer and trauma have been discussed; tuberculosis perhaps is the condition which, next to pure local irritation, predisposes to cancerous invasion. The transformation of tuberculous into cancerous lesions can be best appreciated where it can be most readily inspected, i. e., on the skin, and it is well known that lupus lesions frequently undergo this change. This is also true of large ulcers, which may undergo a direct transformation into epithelioma, or pass through the intermediate stage of tuberculous infection. Cancer in tuberculous lymph nodes is also a matter of interest. Again, cancers and tuberculous lesions may exist side by side in the same organ, as in the lung or the brain. Distinct sarcomatous nodules have been found in infiltrated lungs and alongside of tuberculous cavities, while cancer of the face will not infrequently be found associated with tuberculosis of the cervical lymphatics. Lubarsch has claimed that 4 to 5 per cent. of tuberculous patients suffer also from cancer, and that about 20 per cent. of cancer patients suffer from tuberculosis.

The method of death in cancerous patients is as free from distinctive characteristics as the course of the disease. It is usually associated with two prominent features, malnutrition and some terminal infection. At the last there is usually some toxemia, which renders the closing hours free from actual pain, while if the toxemia be profound patients may linger unconscious for several days.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE TREATMENT OF CANCER.

Accepting the views expressed when discussing the nature of the cancerous process, the following may be assumed to be true: Cancer begins as a local disease. There is therefore a period in its history when if it be recognized in time, if it be or can be made accessible, and if it be thoroughly removed, it can be frequently cured. The “ifs” in the foregoing statement afford such insuperable obstacles in so many cases that the difficulties in the way of treatment are very great. It has been said that, “The resources of surgery are rarely successful when practised upon the dying.” It happens too often that these cases are not submitted to the surgeon until long after the favorable period above indicated is past. This is explained by the difficulties of diagnosis, by the inaccessibility of many primary cancers, and by the unwillingness of patients to submit to the knife. Nevertheless the best time to treat a cancer is when its existence is first suspected, and the best way is the most radical, i. e., by thorough extirpation.

While such extirpation should include a wide area of apparently healthy tissue and of the entire organ which seems to be involved, for instance, in the case of the liver, this last may be impossible; and yet by removal of a considerable area of healthy liver around a cancerous gall-bladder the writer has seen complete and apparent final recovery follow. The principal direction is to be thorough.

That cancer so often returns after operative attack is largely due to the fact that the general practitioner, under whose observation most of these cases first come, is slow to recognize the malady, and timid to advise radical methods.

It has been recognized that in cancer the internal administration of arsenic has been beneficial. In order to obtain the best results from its use, it must be pushed to the physiological limit and in preparations of the most active and reliable kind.[16]

Treatment by Toxins of Erysipelas.

—A number of years ago Fehleisen, calling attention to the fact that cancers had seemed to improve or possibly even disappear after an attack of erysipelas, suggested deliberate infection of the surface of such a growth from a case of erysipelas. In this procedure he met with some success, but there were numerous objections to it, one being the impossibility of controlling the spread of the infection thus produced. Coley, of New York, then undertook a much more systematic study of the relation between the two diseases, and devised a method of injecting the toxins produced by the streptococci of erysipelas and of reinforcing them, if necessary, by those of the bacillus prodigiosus. The intent of this treatment is to produce reasonable reaction in the hope of mitigating the rapidity of the growth, checking its progress, or even causing its disappearance. It has been on trial now for several years, and while in a few cases of sarcoma, especially in the hands of its originator, the treatment has apparently been of service, it has proved disappointing in the majority of instances.

Liquid Air.

—The application of liquid air to superficial malignant growths has proved successful in a number of instances, but inasmuch as this is practicable in only one or two of the largest cities of the country, it is not a measure which need be discussed here at length. The liquid seems to act as an almost painless escharotic, and its use produces sloughing, or a drying up under a scab, which after a day or two will loosen and be easily detached.

Radium.

—This remarkable element has aroused within the past few years an amount of scientific interest and experimentation with which there is little else to compare. The enormous expense of a preparation of any great activity, and the rather bewildering contradictory statements which have been made by those who use the weaker preparations, have caused it to occupy a doubtful position in any list of reliable therapeutic agencies. It is undeniable that certain rodent ulcers, tuberculous lesions of the skin, and a few carcinomatous lesions have been much improved or apparently cured by its use. It is ordinarily used in glass or aluminum tubes or capsules, which are applied upon the surface of the growth to be treated. It has also been used sprinkled upon a plaster whose surface has been prepared with Canada balsam, and thus directly applied. Again, it has been enclosed in a capsule to which a strong silk thread has been fastened so that the former may be swallowed, retained in the stomach for a few hours, and then withdrawn. These last means of using it are of questionable value. Of still less value are the suggestions to dissolve it in water or to administer water in which a receptacle containing radium has been allowed to stand. There is much of interest and perhaps something of value in radiotherapy, but nothing as yet of positive value in the hands of the profession generally.

Ultraviolet Light

, or, as it is often named after its promoter, Finsen light, has proved of value in many cases of lupus, and in some cases of superficial epithelioma. Its effects, however, can scarcely be made to penetrate into the deeper tissues, and in its use it is even necessary to make pressure upon the part treated with quartz compressors, because ordinary glass shuts out a great proportion of these rays from whatever source may produce them, and because it is necessary to create a temporary anemia of the lesions, as the fluids of the body have the same effect as does glass. For these reasons the method, which is of but limited value, can be made serviceable in but a small proportion of cases.

X-ray Therapy.

—The Röntgen or cathode rays have played a large part during the last few years in the therapy of cancer. Such varying statements have been made concerning their value as to keep them still on trial and nothing very positive can be said regarding their efficacy. It may be said, however, that the nearer the malignant growth is to the surface of the body the more promptly can their effects be produced. The superficial growths, especially of the epitheliomatous variety, often yield readily to their use; the deeper the lesion the more vague the effect, both in character and permanence. It has been the writer’s experience that they furnish the best method of relieving pain, in a large number of these growths, short of the anodyne effects produced by powerful drugs, which are in every other respect undesirable. He holds that no one can predicate with certainty what may be their effect in any given instance, but that they are worthy a trial in every inoperable, painful, or otherwise hopeless case. Occasionally improvement follows their use, while in the next, apparently a similar case, one may be doomed to great disappointment. There are as yet no indications by which the cases which are most amenable can be easily recognized. Even in cases of extensive and disseminated abdominal cancer marvellous improvement may follow, but never a cure. It is indeed questionable whether deep cancer can ever be really cured by these means. As against their undoubted and unchallenged value in some instances, certain disadvantages are met in the difficulty of selecting a proper vacuum tube, the frequency and duration of exposure, the distance, etc. Dermatitis, sometimes mild, sometimes severe, has too often followed the injudicious use especially of a “high” tube, and more painful, irritable, or intractable ulcers are seldom seen than some following so-called “x-ray burns” of the skin. Moreover this is not the worst of these cases, for efforts intended for the best have been in repeated instances turned into a travesty by the development on surfaces thus burned of epithelioma, necessitating later mutilating operation. A well-known American surgeon suffered amputation of one hand and nearly all of the other as a penalty for inattention to the destructive effects of too prolonged exposure of his hands. It has, therefore, impressed itself upon the writer that the x-rays should not be indiscriminately employed. Nevertheless in skilled hands and used with great discretion they can be made a powerful instrument for good in many cases, especially for the relief of pain. They should never be regarded as a substitute for operation if operation be feasible, but they may often be employed to advantage after operating, in serious cases, where there is reason to fear recurrence.

The efficiency of the x-rays is apparently enhanced by the simultaneous administration of thyroid extract; although the explanation for this improvement is not known, it is, however, of enough importance to be borne in mind. The extract should be given in 5-grain doses three or four times a day. All the remarks above made may pertain as well to the employment of cathode rays in non-malignant affections, i. e., tuberculous lesions, neuralgia, etc.

Miscellaneous Measures.

—A large number of suggestions concerning the treatment of cancer have emanated from various sources and from men of widely different views. Beaston, of Glasgow, being impressed by the physiological relationships and sympathies between the ovaries and the mammary glands, has suggested the benefit of the removal of the ovaries in hopeless cases of mammary cancer, holding that the nutrition of the mamma being thus influenced there would be more or less subsidence of pathological activity. He has reported instances in which, apparently, this measure had the desired effect; nevertheless it has not found general favor.

Based upon views concerning the hyperacidity of the blood and tissues in the cancerous condition, it is believed that there is a pronounced indication for the internal use of alkalies; and the hypodermic injection of 5 minims of a 1 per cent. solution of a chemically pure soap has been recommended by Webb, on the theory that it promotes the separation of cholesterin from the living cell. He would increase the dose until 60 minims are given at one time, every other day. A 20 per cent. solution of Chian turpentine, dissolved in sterile oil, has also been recommended to be used in the same way. These are recent suggestions of unknown value.

In the general management of cancer patients, two things should be kept in mind: (1) That they are entitled to relief from suffering in the least harmful way in which it may be offered, and (2) there comes a time in the history of many of these cases when all other considerations may be set aside in favor of comfort and tranquillity. Opium and other “drugs that enslave” have their disadvantages, but these cannot outweigh the benefit which they may confer in the last stages of cancer. The terminal pains of malignant disease should he assuaged at any necessary cost of other considerations.

But while all this is going on elimination must not be neglected. Opiates are peculiarly liable to diminish secretions and peristaltic activity. The skin, the kidneys, and the bowels should be kept active by measures which serve this purpose, and if it be desirable to prolong life, nutrition should be regulated and frequently administered, but it is absolutely necessary to maintain elimination.

The latest suggestion, viz., to treat cancer by injections of pancreatic ferments (trypsin and amylopsin), seems to the writer to be based upon erroneous notions concerning the nature and causation of the disease, and to hold out only specious hope of self-justification.