RESEARCH Have you tried these Time-Saving Activity on the Cancer Front First g r o w t h of n o r m a l h u m a n lung tissue in l a b animals highlights recent advances in the a t t a c k on cancer
FILTRATION AIDS?
THOUSAND DEATHS, a 1 2 - f o l d TWENTY increase since 1928—this is the toll
FILTER PULP Ne. 289, Ash-Free Helps to mini mize clogging of the filter paper, and maintain fil tration speed. Helps obtain better retention of precipitate, insure more accurate results. Dry-Dispersed form replaces moist pulp and brittle tablets.
Send for free bulletin ANTI-CREEP Reagent Fluid
A few drops added to t h e w a s h solution Ι | Φ ASHLEY11 prevents the "creep" of precipitates up the filter paper, facili tates the transfer of insolubles from the precipitation vessel, reduces the problem of film deposit on the walls of the beaker.
Send for free folder
s*s FILTER PAPER SUPPORTS No. 123
"With these Supports even soft grades of Filter Paper can be submitted to high suction without danger of bursting at the apex. Special pure, porous textile material will not retard filtration. Inexpensive.
Send for free folder All three of these S&S Filtration Aids are time savers. They are available, with S&S High Quality Analytical F i l t e r Papers, from your laboratory supply house.
MAIL
COUPON
TODAY!
CARL SCHLEICHER & SCHUELL CO.
Bept. C-124, Keene, Ν . Η.
•
Send Free data on S&S • FILTER SUPPORTS FILTER PULP f j ANTI-CREEP
Name— Company.. AddreaR City-
4840
State-
I I
I
ι -J
lung cancer exacts annually. But as deaths have increased, so has the scien tific attack. From several sources comes this news of activity on the can cer front, particularly lung cancer: Growth of Lung Tissue. SloanKettering Institute has grown normal human lung tissue in lab animals, the first time this has been accomplished. This may permit confirmatory tests and aid in deciding whether or not the components of cigarette smoke that cause cancer in mouse skin will also do so in the human lung. In Progress Report VIII—the first to cut across all the lines of effort to summarize the relation of its work to control of lung cancer—Sloan-Kettering says that while "other factors, such as air pollution from other than tobacco sources and individual susceptibility, may b e important, and undoubtedly are, tobacco smoke in the lung in high concentrations and over long periods can no longer be ignored as a primary factor." Returning to prevention of lung can cer, the report observes that there is little knowledge on the factors affecting predisposition, although "there is grow ing conviction that many of them re side in the chemistry of the body/' Particularly suspect are hormones, the strongest evidence being that agents normally cancer producing are inert if the subject animal does not possess a functioning endocrine system. Proce dures recently discovered at the insti tute permit a start on this research. In the field of curing lung cancer, the methods of immunology are being employed in cancer detection. There is some evidence, as yet inconclusive, that in lung cancer tissue there may exist a substance different from, but of the general class of, those that give the Wassermann reaction. Since lung cancer is seldom detected while it is still curable, a blood test which would detect cancer in its early stages would be of great importance. Still another Sloan-Kettering ap proach is to restrain growth of lung cancer. There is much experimental evidence that each type of cell, includ ing cancer cells, may have special nutritive requirements. Although there has been some progress in determimng these requirements in other types of cancer cells, it has been impossible to
do so for lung cancer. This failure has been due to the lack of means for grow ing adequate amounts of lung cancer tissue outside the body. A second rea son has been unavailability of appro priate chemicals suitably tagged. Now the institute has succeeded in growing human lung cancer tissue, as well as the normal tissue, in experimental ani mals. These recent developments give a foundation for special work on thera peutic agents for better control of lung cancer i n man. Luminous Tracer. A chemical that makes cancerous tissues fluoresce un der ultraviolet light is being studied at the University of Maryland medical school. The material, hematoporphyrin, is nontoxic even when injected into the blood stream in high doses, D. S. Rasmussen-Taxdal, Grant E. Ward, and Frank H. J. Figge told a meeting in Atlantic City of the Ameri can College of Surgeons. In high doses, it can outline the boundaries of the cancer and guide the surgeon. In one case, the tumor glowed through the skin and revealed spots where it had spread. Hematoporphyrin may also serve to carry radioactive substances, such as iodine, directly to the cancer. British Research. Research at the University of London's chemistry de partment has substantiated the identity of benzpyrene in cigarette tars (C&EN, Nov. 1, page 4 3 8 0 ) . A. J. Lindsey, R. E. Cooper, and R. E. Waller found that both tobacco and the paper yield the material. Reporting these findings, the British Medical Journal character izes them as "a most important contri bution" to medical knowledge, and adds that "their calculations imply that an individual smoking 40 cigar ettes daily for a year would take in 150 micrograms of the cancer producer (benzpyrene) -while during the same period he would take in another 200 micrograms from an average urban atmosphere/' Information Exchange Program. To assist scientists engaged in studying the chemotherapy of cancer, a commit tee of the National Advisory Cancer Council has set up a program for wide exchange of information. Among the activities to be devel oped: • Issuance of a periodic compilation of informal reports on current research. • Formal conferences and symposia.
CHEMICAL
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
INVESTIGATE
NOW...
THESE TWO UNIQUE EMERY ACIDS uj4*>il&&£.
HBfivf-a
fï
DIBASIC
MONOBASIC
EMEROX AZELAIC ACID
EMFAC PELARGONIC :
