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1E7o2ot4y437 REGISTER Des Moines, Iowa April 6, 1962 ANG CANCER DEATHS CITED By Gary Hickok Of 1,000 men smoking more than 20 cigarettes a~ay, 86 probably will die of lung can- cer, a Mason City surgeon said here :hursday. Among non-smokers, less than five will i die. The risk of dying from lung cancer is directly prcportional to the amount smoked' and there is no evidence of a "threshold" amount below which there is no added risk of dying, said Dr. Alexander Matthews,,general and thoraa ic surgeon at the Park Clinic in Mason City. He addressed the annual meeting of the Iowa Tuber- culosis and Health Associa- ton,at Hotel Savery., "Today, 26 surveys In . ~ eight countries point to the overwhelming prevalence of cigarette smokers as lung cancer victims," said Dr. Matthews. "Phe American Public Health Association estimates that if the trends continue, about one million youngsters now in sc.`.ool will die of lung cancer before they reach tge 70. "In the past 20 years there has b e e n an explosive in- crease In the incidence of :ing cancer to the point where it h.s reached epidemic proportions in ma!-s over 40.. In it140; 6,'379 Amsiicae, died: of lung cancer. In 1950, the figure Was 36;000.. 81 Million Smokers "The nse of lung cancer ioo3by yy HERALD-NE4FS 3 Passaic, New Jersey April 6, 1962 7,1 Mrs. Gesner, Victim Herself, Sure of Smoking-Cancer Link PASSAIC - Mrs. Pt'ances Gesner, in charge of education for the Passaic County Chapter, American Cancer Society, told the Passaic Lions Club yesterdayy that.she.personally has no doubt there is a connection between cigarette smoking and cancer. Mra.Gesner has recovered from cancer of the.larynxher- self, and shee was the organizer off the. Lost. Chords of New Jersey, whose members have.had alli or part of, theirr vocal, chords sur- gically removed, usually for cancer. The Lost Chords now have 174 members, Mrs. Gesner said, 173 men and herself. "Youican see I kneww what I wass doing, when. I, founded! itj" she said. Of the 174; she said, not one waa not a.amoker prlor to, be- ing atricken. Mrs. Gesner said the cancer socketyy was so sure theree was a relation t}iatit: is curren=Fy de- voting great efforts to anti- smokingprograms in the schools. "We feel the adults are al- ready hooked;'she said. "But wee feel thatitt we can influence today's fourth and fiftti graders nottoi smoke,., we mayy save countless.thousandi from death ~from cancer in 20 or .30 i years." lf present rates of cancer in- cidence continue to holdd true, and anti~smoking campaigns are ineffective„ she said, a million present school children will eventuallydie off cancer of the lung.orcancer of the larynx. Mrs. Gesiner said theree wcre 1271 cancer deaths in Passaic in 1981,and 48'of these patlents received some form of aid from the cancer chapter. Shee lltted the assistancee furnished as in- cluding practical i nurses, special medlcattons, visiting nurses, ra- dtumi dresdnga,e eGuipmentt ren- chairs.. The dressings, provided free for treatment of advanced cases, can cost as much as.;3b- S40 a week if purchased'outside„ 3he said. .The real foundation of the hapter~ program~is not welfarework withterminalh patients, Mrs. Gesner said, but education, to get people too recognize the danger signs and to seek medl- ~al care in time to liee cured. "THERE IS no question about' it;" she said. "Half again aa many persons could be cured as are actuallyy being cured, iL they would onlyy get to the doc- kor In time. Of the 127, persons ',who died last year in Passaic, halt might have been saved if theyh:ad gone totheo doctor earlien" Speaking of her own cases, Mrs. Gesner recalled that she had paid $20 an hour for private lessons to learn to talk after her ,ownn cancer operationn coaF herr her larrynx:. "By golly;, no one's going to shut me up," she said. This service is now given free byy volunteer members of the Lost Chords, she polnted.out. Mrs. Gesner's operation cost' only a part ofher, vocal chords and'she has since undergone 39 reconstructive o p e r a t i on s to stretch scar tissue across the tn- terveningapace..As a result;,she said, her voice is now, nearly normal;, nott the usual laryngec- tomea's husky whisper. Mrs. Gesner concluded wittia' request for aupport from the Lions during the society's cur- rent fund drive. Norman Schepps,. club presi- dent;, appointed a nominating committeee to select officers forr the coming year. Its members, all past presidents, are Aaron Levine, chairman; George Zo- zier, Salvatore Lomavro, Harryy tala, and loan doset Items such Dtamond' and Dr. A. Fred 6en- .: hospital beds and wheel~aldi. "But we shouldn't try to blame the rise in Nme cancer on exhaust gases. Iithiswere true, cops, garage workers and truck drivers would be dying of it." "Tobacco industry spokes- throughout the world closely men continue to issue denials follows Oe rise in consump- of the validity of scientists', ( omof cigarettes. An average ftndings,and conclusions and `of 930,000 cigarettes are the press gives the denials .bought each minute by ap- equal prominence with sci- proximately 61 million Amer• entific f i n d i n g s,"' Dr.. ican smokers." Matthews said. Dr. Matthews eaid he ' didn't mean to imply that "tobaccd smoke is the sole cause of lung cancer," Information Gap "Futhermore, the mass media, which collect millions of dolllars from tobacco ads each year, have failed to fill the infprmatior.al gap on the subject of cigarette smoking and lung cancer. "In addition, very little Is being done by local medical groups, state and health services and indi. vidual p h ys l c i ane to spread the facts." Dr.: Matthews said cigar and pipe smokers are not as likely to acquire lung cancer because they don'tinhale. /o03ayy SPDIfESMAN-REVIEW' YJ ", Spokane, Washington ApriL 8, 1962 'Excessive Ci~arette U'se ~lamed Lung Cancer Rate Is Cited Elghty-five per cent of the lung ,cancere found in American males are caused by excessive cigarette emoking, a noted Eastern cancer specialist said in Spokane Satur- day. Evidence linking smoking with lung cancer is so overwhelming, said Dr. George E. Moore, that doctors can now accurately pre- dict when a man, willi get lung cancer if he is a smoker. The prediction is based on the number of cigarettes a person constunes each day: he s:id, and the number of years he has smoked. Even the man who smokes onlyy a half a package of cigarettes a day Is a likely target for lung cancer, Moore said. "Smoking Life. Away'• The man who smokes two or three packs a day "is smoking his life away," he added. Moore, who ie a nonsmoker, is the director and chief of surgery at the RoaweOi Park Memorial Institute, Butfalo, N.Y. Of 300 patienta noww beingg treat- ed for lung cancer at hie hospital, he saidJ,onl} six are nonsmokers. "The huge increase In the inci dence of lung cancer is definitely due to the fact that more people are smmking," he said in an inter- view. What about doctors who say there is no connection between cigarettes and lung cancer? "You usually find out if you investigate thst they are being retained by the tobaccoo indus- Iy;" Moore said. "Based on the knowledgee wealready, have. f' ?on't see how any doctor could'.. sayy that cigarettes are not a cause." Tumerous growths can be in- duced in40 per centt ofthe.ani- mals used in cancer testinglab-• lab- oratories simply by. painting the skin three times a week with 'a smoke condensate. Moore said. The cancer begins to appear aboutia year after the tests begin Moore was guest speaker Sat- urday at the 27th 'annual meet- ing of the Spokane Surgical So- ciety at the Davenport Hote1.