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119
The commonest site for cancer is the alimentary canal. Is cancer
induced through irritation caused by some irritant or infective agent
taken in the dietary? The female reproductive organs are frequently
affected. The os uteri is fissured after frequent deliveries.
Irritation then, or injury, is a prime factor in our considerations.
Cohnheim believed that malignant tumours were due to awakened
growth of embryonic rudiments. In the process of development, some
embryonic portion of tissue fails to grow, but later in life becomes
active and forms a malignant tumour.
Thiersch maintained that the downward growth of superficial cells
and upward growth of bloodvessels led to interlocking and so to the
formation of cancer.
Creighton attributed the formation of cancers to wrong action of
the superficial cells, with long-standing catarrhs, repeated congestions,
etc.
The Theory of Infection.
Can cancer be due to a parasite, a micro-organism? I believe the
answer to be in the affirmative. The evidence in favour is circumstantial.
It is as well to face the criticisms. In his book, "Theories
and Problems of Cancer," 1923, Dr. C. E. Walker, of Liverpool
University, disposes of the parasite theory to his own satisfaction:—
"The parasitic theory was most popular in theeirly nineties,
but since then its adherents have diminished in numbers with
ever-increasing rapidity. Very many "discoverers" of
the cancer parasite have not had the necessary knowledge and
skill to conduct the investigations. The motley throng
which has in the past claimed the discovery of the parasite of
cancer consists mostly of the ignorant, but includes some very
competent men,"
Dr. Walker quotes Dr. James Ewing as saying that "the cancer
parasite is the cancer cell." Yes, but what causes the cancer cell, what
is the vis a tergo? The answer is a germ. Abuse from any inicroscopist
will not prevent many from adhering tenaciously to the germ
theory. Cancer must be due to a cause from without, inasmuch as the
cause of nearly every disease arises outside of the body. Once cancer
has gained a footing it spreads locally, infecting its immediate environment;
it is disseminated metatastically by the blood current and lymph
streams, the latter infecting glands en route. A local diseas to begin
with, cancer eventually becomes constitutional, one of the proofs being