The treatment of cancerous diseases by caustics : a critical enquiry into the modern therapeutics of cancer : being 'the address in surgery' delivered at Birmingham on the occasion of the 24th annual meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association / by Langston Parker.

  • Parker, Langston, 1805?-1871.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The treatment of cancerous diseases by caustics : a critical enquiry into the modern therapeutics of cancer : being 'the address in surgery' delivered at Birmingham on the occasion of the 24th annual meeting of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association / by Langston Parker. 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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    of pfcictice, viz., tliat by oxcision. It may be suffi- cient for me here to observe that, without weighing the merits of excision and cauterization, the latter jDractice may be adoj)ted in cases where excision is utterly out of the question. Hence, on this point alone, cauterization becomes a legitimate subject for inquiry. I shall not enter into the question of the little success which excision, as a curative measure, has met with, nor enumerate the nineteen reasons brought forward by Dr. Walsh against its perform- ance. Much has been ably written on this subject during the last few years, especially by Mr. Paget, who, in balancing the duration of life between can- cerous diseases Avhich have been sulFered to run their OAvn course, and those which have been removed by the knife, believes that there may be a “ small ad- vantage in favour of the operation.” The latter remarks, however, refer more particularly to the re- moval of scirrhous cancer of the breast, whereas what I have to say Avill bear upon the treatment of cancer in all organs. I shall not detain you further than by a passing allusion to the statistics furnished by M. Canquoin, who gives eighty-two per cent, of cures as the result of the practice of enucleation, and ten per cent, as the result of excision.* The second treatment to which I shall direct your attention for a foAv moments is by compression. * “ Traitemcnt du Cancer; Exposd complet de la Mdtliode du Doctcur Canquoin, excluant toute Operation pur I’lnstrumcnt trancliant.” — Page 131.