Fatal Links?

Researchers have suspected for years that Hodgkin's disease--cancer of the lymphatic system--might be communicable to a small degree. New findings reported in the British medical publication Lancet offer the strongest evidence yet to support the theory: thirteen cases of the relatively rare illness have been discovered in Albany, N.Y. Each of the victims had associated with at least one of the others or with a mutual acquaintance. Ten have died.

Drs. Jack Davies of Albany Medical College, Peter Greenwald of the New York State Health Department, and Nicholas Vianna, a U.S. Public Health Service officer attached to Greenwald's office, began their investigation last April. Their curiosity was aroused when a colleague remarked on the high frequency of Hodgkin's disease among members of Albany High School's 1954 graduating class. Intrigued, the researchers obtained a list of seven students known to have been seriously ill. A check with the state health department's Cancer Bureau showed that three of the seven did indeed have Hodgkin's disease. With further investigation, ten more victims were found in the area.

Then the personal links among patients were established. The husband of one, who developed the disease after her marriage, had previously dated another of the patients. Three others had been close friends. One patient had a daughter who did not develop the disease herself but was friendly with one of the victims. Another who escaped the disease was a friend of two patients and lived in the same house as a third.

New Cluster. The implications of such findings are clear. The unusual incidence of the disease is enough to imply that it is contagious to some degree. And the discovery that some cases were not diagnosed until three or more years after exposure hints at a long incubation period. The fact that a few of the victims were connected only by unaffected third parties suggests that some people carry the disease without themselves being infected.

Though no one is yet sure what causes Hodgkin's disease, scientists may soon be able to study this possibly infectious illness. Greenwald's office is attempting to track down friends, relatives and classmates of the Albany victims. Albany newspapers have asked readers who may have associated with Hodgkin's disease patients to get in touch with the state health department. As a result, hundreds of calls were received last week. While the disease is not curable, prompt treatment can often check its course. Meanwhile, a student at a New York medical school has written to health authorities to report a cluster of three cases involving two of his classmates and one of their friends. Dr. Greenwald and his associates plan to conduct a study of the outbreak.

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