The ever increasing scope of blood chemistry studies has enabled us to estimate quantitatively factors representing protein, fat, carbohydrate and salt metabolism and storage.
Everyone is familiar with the cachexia of cancer sufferers, and the early stage at which it sometimes appears, making it practically a diagnostic symptom of malignancy. With this in mind, our efforts have been directed toward the actual cause of the loss of weight, whether due to (1) deficient food intake; (2) absorption of toxins from secondary infection of the tumor, or (3) to some specific action of cancer cells that prevents storage and utilization of foodstuffs.
Following radium and roentgen-ray treatments, many patients show marked improvement or are cured, and the question arises as to whether the roentgen ray produces any discernible change in the blood chemistry and how long such a change must exist to affect a general improved metabolism, and whether the effect