3 NOVEMBER 1928, Page 31

RADIUM FOR CANCER

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Vital is a word which, in these days, is much overworked; it can, however, be used in its strictly literal sense to describe the need for Radium at Westminster Hospital. Many of the men and women suffering from Cancer who were treated at Westminster Hospital in 1924 by the Radium Needle method are not only now alive and well but, moreover, show no symptoms of the recurrence of the disease. There is not the least doubt, therefore, that the treatment, in expert hands, not only prevents suffering but prolongs life, and it is most deplorable that lack of Radium is already making it almost impossible to treat all the patients who are now coming to Westminster Hospital.

The House Committee believes that the public will readily assist the Hospital in its effort to ensure,-as-far as lies in its power, that no patient shall continue to endure the sufferings of Cancer if there is reasonable hope that Radium will bring relief. We are, therefore, issuing an appeal for L15,000, which is the sum immediately necessary. As radium is im- perishable, this will be a permanent Fund to combat Cancer. Donations may be addressed to Mr. E. H. Hoare or The Hon. Sir William Gosehen, K.B.E., Radium and Cancer Fund, Westminster Hospital, Broad Sanctuary, London, S.W.—