274 THE PROTEAL TREATMENT OF CANCER 



neoplasm associated with a responsive dyscrasia of the blood- 

 forming organs. Hence the futility of the autolysate treatment 

 of Fichera and allied attempts to treat cancee with so-called" 

 "vaccines" made from the tissue of neoplasms. 



A disturbance of the blood count, or a deviation from the nor- 

 mal, in token of cytogenic dyscrasia, may be expected as a matter 

 of course. If the neoplasm is small, as in case of a epithelioma 

 of the mouth, the antigenic stimulus of the cancer cells may be of 

 so relatively slight a character that the blood picture, at the time 

 when the patient comes under observation, may be identical with 

 that which has been presented in an earlier chapter as typically 

 favorable. The red blood count may be above five million ; the 

 white count about 8,000; and the mononuclears may constitute 

 35 or 40 per cent of the leucocytes with a preponderance of large 

 monocytes; and there may be relatively high percentage of eos- 

 inophiles. 



This would indicate, according to the present thesis, that the 

 patient in question is receiving spontaneous protein treatment that 

 is accomplishing valuable results in retarding the progress of the 

 malady. 



More commonly, however, as records of our counts have shown, 

 the patient at the time of first examination has reached a stage 

 at which the corpuscular balance is much less favorable. The 

 stimulus to the cytogenic apparatus (in particular the bone mar- 

 row), followed by exhaustion, is revealed in a relative monocy- 

 penia, but with marked preponderance of the small lymphocytes, 

 associated with a deficiency of eosinophiles, and, usually, with a 

 marked decrease of the red corpuscles. Commonly there is marked 

 general leucocytosis, but with preponderance of the polynuclears. 

 Myelocytes, leucoblasts, and normoblasts may be present in 

 greater or less profusion. The poly nuclear commonly show 

 marked deviations from the normal as regards the conformation 

 of the nucleus (S-shaped nucleus, ring-form, spiral contortion, 

 etc.), with in general a marked tendency toward "progression to 

 the left," speaking in terms of the Arneth formula. 



This pciture suggests that a spontaneous cancer-antigen treat- 

 ment has passed its maximum of efficiency, and that relatively 

 rapid and unfavorable progress of the neoplasm must now be 

 expected unless a new and different stimulus can be brought to 

 bear on the defensive mechanism of the body. 



Such a new stimulus may be supplied by the X-ray, by radium, 

 or by the administration of proteins of a type quite different from 

 the proteins of cancer. 



In discussing the action of X-ray and radium elsewhere I have 

 suggested that the beneficial effect of these rays may be in part 

 at least due to their general influence on the blood count. I wish 



