Medicine: Prevention Preferred

In the fight against cancer, doctors may be putting too much emphasis on cures and too little emphasis on prevention, warned Dr. W. C. Hueper of the National Cancer Institute, speaking this week to the Washington Cancer Society.

As for the causes of cancer, many scientists still accept “rather sterile concepts,” Dr. Hueper said. Among them he listed the theories that cancer gets started by chronic irritation and that it is the product of heredity. Both, he said, are supported by evidence of “doubtful value,” and both may cause researchers to ignore a wide field of potentially valuable research in preventing the disease. Dr. Hueper’s main point: almost every known cancer-producing agent can be traced to environment, particularly certain processes of modern industries.

The chief proved or suspected producing agents, as Hueper lists them: physical agents, such as ultraviolet rays; inorganic substances, such as beryllium and selenium; organic chemicals, e.g., benzol; certain by-products from the process of refining oil shale and petroleum; vegetable products, e.g., betel nuts.

The best way to prevent cancer, Hueper believes, is to cut out, or at least cut down, the conditions of contact; better yet, use harmless materials instead of those with cancer-producing properties. Some industries have already made a beginning, he noted, but the process could be stepped up by spreading the word on environmental causes of cancer through industrial management and “health agencies, including the medical profession.”