CANCER ANAEMIA 605 



In haemolytic anaemia and in a series of other ailments there is a 

 quite different behaviour. In these illnesses the blood corpuscles do not 

 attain nearly the same life-time but decay in accordance with a statistical 

 law like that for radioactive atoms. The R. E. S. plays an active part in 

 the death of these erythrocytes, and Mischer(^^^ has produced a series 

 of arguments to support this. The cancerous mice involved in Ehren- 

 stein's previously discussed experiments had greatly enlarged spleen 

 and liver, with average weight increases for these organs amounting to 

 153 and 42 per cent (Figs. 5 and 6). A study of mice having spontaneous 

 tumour yielded a similar result. Furthermore, the incorporation of ^^p 

 into the desoxyribonucleic acid of the liver and spleen was found to be 

 markedly increased in adult mice inoculated wdth breast cancer (Kelly 

 and JoNES^^^' ^^^), Such incorporation into the liver and to some extent 

 also to the spleen, must be attributed essentially to additional cell 

 formation. 



An investigation by Berlin, Lawrence and Elmlinger^^^^ shows, 

 among other data, that the erythrocytes in a diseased enlargement of 

 the spleen frequently decay roughly in accordance with a statistical 

 law, but that as soon as the spleen is removed all the red corpuscles attain 

 approximately the same life-time. On the other hand, removal of the 

 spleen from a healthy person, which has been done repeatedly after 

 accidents causing a rupture of the spleen, does not noticeably affect 

 the life-time of the erythrocytes^^^\ These results demonstrate quite 

 clearly the great difference in the parts played by the spleen in physiolo- 

 gical and pathological decay of the red corpuscles. 



METABOLISM OF IRON IN THE CANCEROUS ORGANISM 



The study of the metabolism of iron in the cancerous organism can 

 lead up to valuable information concerning the curtailment of the life- 

 time, the existence of hyperplasia of the bone marrow, and so on. In 

 contrast to the determination of the life-time of red corpuscles, which 

 has been discussed in the previous pages, such investigations require only 

 a few hours, a fact to which great importance attaches in clinical studies. 

 The iron content of the plasma is frequently decreased to a smaller 

 extent than the iron concentration in the plasma, since indeed the plasma 

 volume is sometimes increased (see p. 598). Even when this increase is 

 taken into account, there is often a lower content of iron in the plasma 

 of cancer patients. The magnitude of the iron content of the plasma is 

 determined essentially by the amounts of iron discharging, chiefly to the 

 bone marrow, and flowing in from the iron deposit. If the rate of forma- 

 tion of red corpuscles is accelerated, as it is often the case with cancer 



