Medicine: Cancer Army

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Dr. Little saw that before he set out to propagandize laymen on cancer control, more doctors would have to be persuaded that an informed layman was a good patient. He also had to encourage more doctors to learn more about a disease whose treatment was plagued with tragic and humiliating failures. Three years ago, after many an appearance on the rostrum of many a medical and biological society, Dr. Little felt he had the doctors back of him. Logically, his next attack was on that group of cancer sufferers which is most numerous and amenable to treatment: "If we can get all the women talking about cancer," said he three years ago and again last week, "we will be in a fair way of controlling this tremendous cause of suffering and death." Women's Field Army— The biggest organization of U. S. women is the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Accordingly, Dr. Little sought out Mrs— Grace Morrison Poole of Brockton, Mass.; long a prominent clubwoman and president of the Federation in 1932. She was glad to interrupt her work as dean of progressive Stoneleigh College at Rye, N. H., where she trains girls to become businesswomen, to join Dr. Little's crusade. Because she is magnetic and persuasive (Republicans used her to campaign in New Hampshire for Landon), Mrs. Poole has been invaluable in overcoming the not inconsiderable opposition of cancerphobes, getting club leaders to cooperate with leaders of medical societies in sponsoring a forthcoming series of lectures about cancer.

To be Field Representative of the Field Army, Dr. Little chose Mrs. Marjorie B. Illig of Onset, Mass., wife of a General Motors executive and before her marriage a trained radiologist working for cancer specialists in Massachusetts. Mrs. Illig has the advantage of being not only a clubwoman in charge of the Federation's division of health, but a qualified speaker on cancer prevention.

Organized by states and counties shoulder-to-shoulder with the state and county medical societies, the American Society for the Control of Cancer's women's army is first going to collect $1 from at least 2,000,000 U. S. women. With this $2,000,000 the army will finance mass meetings, lectures, radio broadcasts, newspaper and magazine articles, print and distribute tons of literature urging all U. S. women to be on the alert for unusual lumps, sores, bleeding, and telling them what to do about these symptoms if they occur.

Cancer Control. So eager was the U. S. medical profession to cooperate in this anti-cancer campaign that last week the four important U. S. organizations dealing with cancer—the American College of Surgeons, the American Roentgen Ray Society, the American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Society for the Control of Cancer—formed a Cancer Council, which will answer any reasonable question about cancer sent by doctor or layman to headquarters at No. 1250 Sixth Avenue, New York City. Members of this Cancer Council are: Dr. Frank E. Adair, Memorial Hospital, New York, N. Y.

Dr. Karl Kornblum, Graduate Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Dr. James B. Murphy, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York N. Y.

Dr. James Ewing, Memorial Hospital, New York, N. Y.

Dr. Burton T. Simpson, State Institute for the Study of Malignant Disease, Buffalo, N. Y.