Alerte: Science Contre Cancer ( l'Office national canadien du film, 1950)

This is the film Challenge: Science Against Cancer accompanied by a French soundtrack. It illustrates the importance of continued research in laboratories around the world in order to solve the problem of cancer, and aims to explain the current difficulties in identifying causes and cures. It begins with an overview of the birth of man from one cell and explores the complexity of the human body. It shows the isolation and testing of cancer cells and explains the effects of heredity and environment on normal cells. It further explains the difficulties of tracing several generations to identify heritability and the multitude of chemicals, etc. which affect cells and turn them cancerous. An overview of modern treatments likely to eradicate several forms of the disease are described. Shots include: laboratory testing, hospital waiting room, university science classroom with one female black woman, researchers interviewing former cancer patients at their homes, cancer treatment equipment, radium inserted in patient's mouth, radiation equipment lowered onto lesion of man's face, researchers making coffee on a Bunsen burner and eating lunch in the laboratory, a researcher in the laboratory alone late at night making a personal call home, special animated effects of cells and body organs, etc.; description of the cellular structure and the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells. Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918316187006676 Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films