[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In his lines of
criticism of " Crusader," Mr. Cuthbert Lockyer himself distorts the " truth " he twice invokes !
(1) The average primary mortality in over three thousand cases of extended operation for cancer of the womb was 17.2 per cent. (lowest 5.2 per cent., highest 39'7 per cent.). It varies, of course, with the experience of the operator, and with his " operability rate," i.e., whether he operates on, or refuses treatment for, many advanced patients. Contrasted; with this, there is but a decimal point of mortality in radiation treatment, and advanced cases are treated in large numbers.
(2) Only an ostrich-like hiding of the head in the sand can deny that there has been for many years, and is now, a " rivalry " between purely surgical and radiation methods of treating cancer. True, some of the best results have been gained by combined methods ; but specially in cancer of the skin, tongue, larynx, womb and breast the purely surgical position has been challenged by radiologists ; and, as was pointed out in the excellent leader of the Times of Monday, July 16th, this was one of the main interests of the London Cancer Conference, and recent medical literature will be found to show how far that challenge promises to be successful in the more accessible sites in which cancer is found.—I am, Sir, &c.,
J. II. DOUGLAS WEBSTER
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