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Reprinted from PiTTSBUPGH SUN TELEGRAPH Saturday, June 11, 1955 Scranton Scientist Expounds Theory to AMA / Cigarefs 'Cleared' On Cancer By PAT MeCORMACK a.e•rAarnrf. aL.tt wdttr ATLANTIC CIVY,. N. J.. June 11.-The much maligned cigaret came ln,for a face-sav- ing today by the scientist who reported to the nation's doc• tors: "In the absence of a minute micro-organism which sets off cancer, ten clgarets or ten packs a day, every day of .a person's life-time can't pos- sibly cause lung cancer." The scientist, Dr. George A. Clark,of Scranton, reported at the annual mecting of the American MedicaP Assoclation here that he has "Irrefutsble evidence" this Is so: The case he presented,, through a scientific exhibit sponsored by the Cancer Re- search Foundatlr;, of Pltta- burgh, Is built upon a theory that a little bug causes cancer. The bug-a micro-organism -apparent]y Is everyw here, Dr. Clark told the S'in-Telegraph in an excluslve Interview. DUG ISOLATED He-and a handfu[ of re• search working throughout the world-have isolated the bug in every human cancer known. Elaborating upon a theory popular in the 1850's, Dr. Clark and associates Isolated the micro-organism d u r i n g re• search at the National Instl- tute of Health some years ago. When the "irrefutable'." case was written up in report form It never got past a public health service official who thought it was too controver• alal. Dr. Clark pointed out. The report has been pigeon• holed in NIH files since 1938, despite the fact that tax funds supported the project for near• ly a decade. The bug, by Itself. won't do any harm to a human unless there 1s present in the system an adnormal. damaged, or wornout celi, Dr. Clark said. ATTACKS CELLS It attacks such cel(s and the cells, Jn t*e battle fo- snrvival, divide and multlply-balloon• fng the abnormality Into a can• cer, according to the scirntist. Dr. Clark's research team ex• plalned that this theory logl• ca]ly aecoun for the p'r.va• lence of catYcer In the fiftl-s and sixties - a periM of life during which the cells' repro• ductive mechanism slows down.. The alow down makes them more susceptible to the invas- fon of the micro-organism, Dr. Clark asserted. In adtiition to accounting for the widespread occurrence of cancer In the fifties and sixties, the bu(,g theory all;o explains to some extent the association between cancer and previous trauma - a bump or a bruise which inlures nor.mal cells. Such Injury, according to the theory, may contribute to the predisposition for a loslhg bat. tle If the micro.organism !n- vades. A third factor which con, tributes to one's xulnerabillty to attack by the cancer bug in• volves things which irrdtate the cells, Dr. Clark said. Among such thin~s, would Ihe snn, coal tar6 and even in- dustrial irrltants. There are 284 such irtltants, lie said. 1'he scientists have gone one step further than just isolating thr virus They have ground up can- ccr c, tissue containing the cui,.it and InJected It into a horse coming up with a I serum which, It. is reported. may eventually he successful In treating cancers. The abnormal' or weak cell structure which helps predis- nose one to a IosinS battle with the cancer bug, incidentally, depends on who you pick for your ancestors. It's strictly a matter of running in the fam- lly, according to the experts. But that alone won't give you cancen There must be• as, the scicntist vlew; the situa- tion, 'years'" of irrltation In recent years cancer rN search has to some extent' sup• ported the view that burns, heat6 tar and other Irritants do not produce cancer but on]yy prepare the body cells for Jn- varion of the specific filterable micro-organism Dr. Clark talks about. . 2U22240235