“Nobody knows. Some day we may—probably shall—find out. Meantime we have the knowledge of how to prevent it.”
“How to prevent a disease you don’t know the nature of?” said Mrs. Sharpless incredulously. “That sounds like nonsense.”
“Does it? What about smallpox? We haven’t any idea of what smallpox really is; but we are able to control it with practical certainty through vaccination.”
“Doctors don’t vaccinate for cancer,” remarked the practical-minded old lady.
“They have tried serums, but that is no use. As I said, the immediate occasion of cancer is irritation. There is overwhelming proof that an unhealing sore or irritation at any point is likely to result in the development of a cancer at that point, and at least a highly probable inference that, without such irritation, the disease would not develop.”
“Then why not get rid of the irritation?”
“Ah, there’s the point. That’s where the tremendous life-saving could be effected. Take a very simple instance, cancer of the lip. In a thousand cases recorded by one of the Johns Hopkins experts, there wasn’t one but had developed from a small sore, at first of innocent nature. It isn’t too much to say that this particular manifestation of cancer is absolutely preventable. If every person with a sore on the lip which doesn’t heal within three weeks were to go to a good surgeon, this hideous and defacing form of tumor would disappear from the earth. As for carcinoma of the tongue, one of the least hopeful of all varieties, no careful person need ever develop it. Good dentistry, which keeps the mouth free of jagged tooth-edges, is half the battle. The other half is caution on the part of smokers. If a white patch develops in the mouth, tobacco should be given up at once. Unless the patch heals within a few weeks, the patient should consult a physician, and, if necessary, have it removed by a minor operation. That’s all there is to that.”
“But if the irritant sore is internal?” inquired Mrs. Clyde.
“To the watchful it will give evidence of its presence, usually in time. If it is in the intestines or stomach, there is generally some uneasiness, vague, perhaps, but still suspicious, to announce the danger. Surgical records covering a long period show that eighty per cent of stomach cancers were preceded by definite gastric symptoms of more than a year’s duration. If it is in the uterus, there are definite signs which every woman ought to be taught to understand. And here, to go back to the matter of cure, even if the discovery isn’t made until cancer has actually developed, there is an excellent chance in the early stages. Cancer of the stomach used to be sure doom to a hideous death. Now, taking the cases as they come, the desperate chances with the early cases, more than a quarter are saved in the best surgical hospitals. Where the growth is in the womb or the intestines, with reasonably early discovery, a generous half should be repaired and returned to active life as good as new.”
“That doesn’t seem possible,” said Mrs. Sharpless flatly.