The treatment of inoperable malignant tumors with the toxins of erysipelas and bacillus prodigiosus / by William B. Coley.

  • Coley, William Bradley, 1862-1926.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The treatment of inoperable malignant tumors with the toxins of erysipelas and bacillus prodigiosus / by William B. Coley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    The infected parts were thoroughly impregnated with sarcomatous deposit, and the soft palate was increased to about three times its normal thickness. The growth consisted of cauliflower-like granulations, varying in size from a kernel of rice to a pea.- The uvula was en- tirely destroyed ; the cervical glands were enlarged. The patient had lost considerable flesh and strength, but was not cachectic. His weight was 86 pounds. He had difficulty in deglutition, and could not breathe through his nose. A microscopical examination made by Dr. James W. Williams showed the growth to be spindle-celled sarcoma. The tumor was so extensive that I expressed very little hope of any permanent bene- fit being derived from the toxins, but advised giving the treatment a short trial. Dr. Johnson began, October 31, 1893, and continued the injections with occasional intervals for seven months. The reaction temperature following the injection varied between 990 and 103° F. The preparation used was the filtered toxins, grown separately and kept in separ- ate bottles, mixing them at the time of injection. I had not then begun growing them together. The result of the treatment is a constant, slow im- provement, some of the sarcomatous tissue undergoing necrobiosis, some disappearing by absorption. In Oc- tober, 1894, the patient weighed 107 pounds. He had had no treatment for three months, and the tumor had apparently entirely disappeared. (Two days ago Dr. Johnson wrote that there was one point in the mouth that looked slightly suspicious, and he decided to re- sume treatment for a short time. This same thing oc- curred once before, and quickly disappeared when the injections were begun.) Since the reading of the paper another successful case has been reported to me by letter, and its great importance warrants inserting it here. The case was a patient of Dr. Judson C. Smith, of New York, Director of the Laboratory of the Post-Graduate Medical School