264 THE PROTEAL TREATMENT OF CANCER 



A typical, yet somewhat extreme, case, for example, was that 

 of a patient suffering from carcinoma of the throat whose blood 

 on the 8th of October, 1915, at an early stage of the treatment 

 showed 7.3 per cent, of large mononuclears to 18 per cent, of 

 small ones ; and whose count about six weeks later (on the 22nd 

 of November) was almost precisely reversed as regards these 

 particular elements, showing 18.3 per cent, of large mononuclears 

 to 7.6 per cent, of small ones. 



Other specific cases show the proportion between large and 

 small mononuclears as follows : 19 to 20.6 at an early stage of 

 treatment and 34 to 11.5 at a later stage; 14 to 31.6 at an early 

 stage, and 27.75 to 15 at a later stage; 9 to 16 at an early stage, 

 and 21.5 to 8 at a later stage; and 10.5 to 29 at an early stage, 

 against 31 to 15.5 after three months of treatment. 



A typical thyroid case showed the balance between large and 

 small mononuclears as 8 to 19.6 on the 12th of October, and 

 shifted to 25 to 19.5 on the 17th of December, after two months 

 of use of anti-thyroid serum. 



It seems a fair inference that, since vegetable proteins on one 

 hand and anti-thyroid sheep serum on the other produce precisely 

 the same results in human subjects that Vaughan observed in 

 case of the sheep inoculated with cancer tissue, the principle in- 

 volved is the response to the protein antigen as such rather than 

 a specific response to any particular type of protein. 



This, it will be observed, would be fully in keeping with the 

 assumption that the mononuclear leucocytes are the agents chiefly 

 involved in beginning the decompounding of foreign proteins in 

 general when brought in contact with the blood. 



Be the theoretical explanation what it may, however, the thing 

 that has peculiar significance in the present connection is the ob- 

 served fact that the hypodermic administration of proteins (inde- 

 pendent of any other treatment) has been demonstrated to bring 

 about a very marked modification of the leucocyte count, in the 

 direction of the increase of the large mononuclears. Cases in 

 which no favorable modifications of this kind have taken place 

 under Proteal treatment have not been observed to make favor- 

 able clinical progress. 



Fairly typical of desired results in case number 348, who on 

 the 15th of October (before beginning treatment) had a haemo- 

 globin index of 80 per cent., a red count of 3,168,000, a white 

 count of 9,880; with 78.6 poly., 10.6 large monocytes and 8.3 

 small lymphocytes; and who on the 1st of December showed a 

 haemoglobin index of 90 per cent., a red count of 4,944,000, and 

 a white count of 7,500; with 66.5 per cent, poly., 21 per cent, 

 large monocytes, and 10 per cent, small lymphocytes. 



