Early Warning System

Of all the common forms of malignancy, breast cancer is one of the most frightening. It is now killing 32,000 American women a year, and by the time a woman or her doctor is able to notice a lump under the skin, the disease has often spread to other parts of the body. Thermography, which measures the heat radiated by tumorous tissue, and conventional X rays can help in early detection. Now a new refinement of an old technique promises to allow the spotting and treatment of breast cancer when it is no larger than a pencil point.

Known as xeroradiography, the process uses the same principles as an office copying machine. A prototype was first constructed in 1946 at the request of civil-defense planners, who hoped to duplicate X-ray plates that might be destroyed in the event of an atomic attack. Never put into full operation, the clumsy model was later acquired by Dr. John Wolfe of Hutzel Hospital in Detroit, a pioneer in the field of xeroradiography. His work with the machine eventually caught the attention of Dr. John Martin, a radiologist at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston. Martin and several colleagues convinced the Xerox Corp. and the American Cancer Society that the device had great potential for cancer detection. Last year Xerox delivered the first model of the new machine to Martin in Houston.

Exceptional Accuracy. Developed at a cost of $5,000,000, it uses conventional X-ray equipment to photograph the breast. The difference is in the developing. Instead of X-ray film, the xero-radiograph uses a selenium plate that has been specially treated to make it sensitive to X rays. Once exposed, the plate is inserted into a processor similar to an office copier, where it is "developed" electronically. The result is an exceptionally accurate Xerox "picture" of the breast, its internal tissues and any cancer that might be present.

The prints take about a minute to develop, one-twentieth the time required for conventional X rays; more important, they are far easier to read and interpret. In a series of 1,535 examinations performed during the past year, Martin uncovered 54 cancers. Thirteen of the cancers had been previously unsuspected, and all were detected before they had spread beyond the original site. Because of the promising results in Houston, hospitals in Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit have ordered the new equipment and will soon be using xeroradiography to get an early warning of breast cancer.

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