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As existing treatment for this type of malignancy is far from
satisfactory, our hopes for the future must rest in prevention
which in this instance clearly demands, as a first step, the
reduction of tobacco consumption. Unfortunately, only temporary
restraint is occasioned by price rises in cigarettes and the leniency
with which smoking in children is viewed today can only result
in conditions conducive to a rise in lung cancer deaths at even
earlier ages. So far, education has failed to produce a solution
but it cannot be wrong to persist in imparting knowledge in the
hope that intelligence will finally triumph over fashion, fads and
fancies.
In previous Reports, outlines have been given of modern
researches into the causes of cancer for it is upon the successful
outcome of such efforts will prevention be made possible. Recently
it has been found that some malignant cells lose the ability to
manufacture a body amino-acid called asparagine and have to rely
on an external source of supply for their growth and development.
Use is made of this fact to attack the malignant cells with the
enzyme 1-asparaginase. The attraction of this particular method
of treatment is that, unlike cytotoxic drugs which attack all cells,
only the target cells are affected and even then only in an indirect
way. There are great hopes of success in its use in certain kinds of
leukaemia deaths from which have risen by over 13% since 1960
to 3,698 in England and Wales during 1969.
Cancer registration which is proceeding methodically throughout
all the Regional Hospital Board areas is beginning to provide useful
data for epidemiological and clinical research and is adding
substantially to the sum total of knowledge necessary for the
eventual control of malignancy.
Dental Caries—Fluoridation
Development of malocclusion, i.e. a situation where teeth are
irregular and fail to align properly, can be the result of a number
of factors, one of which is heredity. In such cases, remedial
treatment which can be quite extensive, is nevertheless limited by
the genetically determined framework of the jaw. However,
there is one other very important cause of malocclusion, namely,
tooth decay, which, if subjected to available preventive measures,
could be substantially reduced if not entirely eliminated.
As civilization advances, so the incidence of dental decay
increases. This inescapable truth emerges from statistics which
indicate that dental caries occurs in 98% of the population, the
treatment of which costs almost £65 million per year.