[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Halifax County Borough.

  • Halifax (England). County Borough Council. nb2008024085.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Halifax County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    29/102 (page 27)
    In Connecticut there has been a five per cent, improvement1- > from a fifth to a quarter of all patients treated—in the five yiear survival rates as a result of patients attending for early diagnosis and treatment. I suggest that these improvements are the results of carefully applied health teaching]. I do not suggest that every cancer patient could, if treated in an early stage of the disease, be cured. There are too many unknown and mysterious factors to prevent that, but I am of the opinion that early treatment would bring about an increase in cancer survival rates, and I submit that this can only be attained by well-informed education of the public. It is too often thought that cancer is always incurable. The use of radium, X-Ray Therapy and modern surgical technique has saved many lives when applied at a sufficiently early date. The moral is obvious. We cannot afford to wait until research solves the riddle of cancer. There may be genetic factors in the aetiology of the disease, and if this is so, the solution of the problem is extremely complex. In the meantime we must advocate early competent advice, together with prompt treatment.