By cancer period is understood those years after forty, although rarely it may occur earlier. The first symptoms of uterine cancer are:
1. Profuse flowing, even if only a day more than usual. Flowing or spotting during the interval or after the use of a syringe or the movement of the bowels.
2. Whites or Leucorrhea, if not existing previously. If existing but getting more profuse, watery, irritating, or producing itching is a very suspicious symptom.
[CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASES 335]
3. Loss of weight, if no other cause is apparent. Pain in the region of the womb, back or side.
If any of the above symptoms occur after the age of thirty-five or forty, a woman should seek relief and insist on thorough investigation of the cause and prompt treatment.
Cancer is always at first a local disease and can be removed if early recognized and an absolute, permanent cure brought about.
CANCER OF THE BREAST.—Eighty-one per cent of an tumors of the breast are cancer or become so. Whenever a woman feels a lump in her breast, particularly if she be at the cancerous age, she should consult a skilled physician at once and keep that breast under medical observation. If so advised by her physician or by a skilled surgeon, she should have an operation for the removal of the cancer, as it can be completely eradicated when operated upon in its early stages. If left to grow and develop it will get beyond the aid of even the most skillful surgeon. Early diagnosis plus surgery is the only hope for a cancerous person. Operation offers a most hopeful outlook for those afflicted with cancer. It is more important to make an early diagnosis in cancer of the breast than it is in appendicitis.
CANCER (CARCINOMA).—This is very malignant. This kind is divided into two classes, Scirrhus and Epithelial.
1. Scirrhus cancer. This is a hard, irregular growth of moderate size. Its special seat is the breast, the pyloric (smaller) end of the stomach and in few instances the glands of the skin.