Cancer Its Course and Its Causes 8 



structures can develop which resemble disorganized em- 

 bryos. And parts of this abnormal formation may again 

 become invasive and set up secondary growths in other 

 parts of the body. 



We see then that in cancer parts of our body become 

 overactive and grow and move in a somewhat hasty, dis- 

 organized way. This excessive growth of parts of our 

 body is the essential disease, not, as in tuberculosis, the 

 destruction and cell death caused by the toxins of bac- 

 teria. 



In cancer no immunity is produced in the diseased or- 

 ganism such as is found in varying degrees in infectious 

 diseases, because the essential invader and product of 

 the disease is part of ourselves, our own body. Now, an 

 organism defends itself only against something strange, 

 which carries a chemical element into its economy quite 

 different from that to which it is accustomed. A de- 

 fense can therefore be set up against the strange bacteria 

 and thus immunity develops; but no such chemical reac- 

 tion occurs against the own cells of the body which are 

 very familiar to all the surrounding cells and do not 

 carry anything essentially new into the host. They pro- 

 duce nevertheless certain alterations in the metabolism 

 of the body and may thus cause a certain loss of weight 

 and other changes. But these are inconstant and of rela- 

 tively minor importance. The injurious effect of cancer 

 is essentially of a mechanical and locally destructive 

 character. The cancer cells destroy important and nec- 

 essary organs, or they interfere with their function; they 

 may open the blood vessels and cause bleeding; they may 

 break through the surface of the body and may give rise 

 to putrefaction. However, there are great differences in 

 the activity of different cancers. Some are relatively 

 inert and may exist for many years without doing seri- 

 ous harm; but the majority of cancers are quite active and 

 destructive in a relatively short time. 



