On Monday the Ministry of Health addressed a circular to
the local authorities on the subject of cancer. As the circular contains the combined knowledge and opinions of the Medical Research Council and the various cancer research bodies, it is written with authority. Yet its statements may be contested—such is the dimness of the knowledge possessed even by the experts. It points out first—a fact that no one will dispute—that in two generations the recorded mortality from cancer has trebled and that this increase cannot be wholly accounted for by longer life and better diagnosis. On the other hand, it is admitted that the death-rate from cancer is not increasing among men up to 45 and among women up to 60. The most rapid increase is in extreme old age. The circular goes on to remark that the theory of an hereditary predisposition to cancer has not been proved, nor has it been proved that particular foods increase or prevent the liability to cancer. Proof is also lacking for the assertions that there are "cancer houses," and that cancer is infectious or contagious. The public is urged to remember that cancer in its early stages is almost invariably painless ; early recognition, therefore, is important, and a reference is made to the good results in early cases from surgery and from treatment by X-rays, radium and diathermy.
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