A CASE OF CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST, VS. ERY- 
SIPELAS AND ARSENIC. 
By CHARLES MOIIR. M.D. 
Read before the Homoeopathic Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, September 18th, 1888, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
'T'HIS interesting case, occurring in my own practice, I relate on 
X account of its rarity and suggestiveness. 
On July 23d, 1886, I was consulted by Mrs. E. M. FI , a 
widow, a.*t. eighty-one, about a lump she had noticed for an indefi- 
nite time in the left mamma. Occasionally she had suffered some 
pain, at infrequent intervals, but latterly the pain recurred oftener 
and was more persistent. Except the lump and pains, and a vertigo, 
experienced most after first lying down, and when rising from a 
sitting posture, or when turning the head suddenly, her health was 
good, and she was a woman who had reared a family, had been very 
active, and scarcely ever employed a physician. 
An examination of the breast revealed a somewhat flattened 
tumor almost centrally located, about the size of a hen’s egg, hard 
and inelastic, and presenting irregularities. The tumor was adher- 
ent to the skin, there was a slight dimpling, and fixation of the 
nipple, which I could not draw forward. I could not detect any 
glandular involvement in the adjacent lymphatics, and despite her 
age, because her health was good, I advised the extirpation of the 
growth. The patient and her family objected to any operative meas- 
ures, and I was asked to treat the case purely medicinally. I there- 
fore prescribed Conium ix, a drop mixed in twelve teaspoonfuls of 
water, and given in two teaspoonful doses every three hours 
for one week. Improvement in the vertigo was soon manifest and 
the mammary pains were less severe at the end of a week. I then 
stopped medication, but repeated my prescription of Conium ix, on 
August 4th and 17th, 1886, and on January 1st and May 27th, 1887, 
always with the relief of the pains and the vertigo. The tumor, 
however, continued to grow. Retraction of the nipple ensued, the 
adhesion to the skin became more marked, and the vascular chan- 
nels were occluded, as indicated by discoloration of the skin and 
enlarged veins. On July 23d, 1887, an examination showed a still 
greater area of infiltration, with involvement of the axillary glands, 
and in the neighborhood of the original growth small but firm indu- 
rations were felt and seen. The neoplasm was now easily recognized 
as a large projecting tuber elevating the skin. At this time she 2 
suffered from intense pains, shooting and lancinating in character, 
going and coming quite unexpectedly, and robbing her of rest and 
sleep. Belladonna I, in drop doses, on sugar of milk, was then ad- 
ministered, and I had the satisfaction of again witnessing relief. 
From this time until October 15th, 1887, she required no other 
medicine, at least I gave her none, although ulceration of the skin 
had taken place, and the fissure had gradually widened and deep- 
ened, until a shallow excavation, with indurated edges and a ragged 
base, was anything but a sightly object. As she had suffered little 
pain, lost little sleep, and was fairly active for so old a woman, I pre- 
ferred to resort to earth dressings to absorb the thin, ichorous and 
offensive discharge from the ulcer, and to keep up her strength as 
well as possible by systematic and careful feeding. A few doses of 
Lachcsis 30 were given on October 15th, because latterly when she 
experienced pain it was always after sleep. The patient, however, 
grew more and more feeble, lost appetite, was compelled to seek 
her bed, from which it was supposed she would never arise, and 
towards the latter part of November, 1887, general infection was 
pronounced ; there were present all the phenomena of a cancer ca- 
chexia. This state continued until December 19th, 1887, when I was 
summoned to witness the patient extremely restless, complaining of 
chilliness and much fever, frequently demanding water, of which 
she would only take a sip or two, and complaining of most severe 
burning pain in her breast, the worst she had ever experienced. 
The symptoms had set in after midnight and continued to grow in 
severity, attended by delirium, until 8 A. m., when I reached her 
bedside. An examination of the breast at this time revealed a com- 
plete dryness of the ulcerated excavation, and a distinct line of red- 
ness extending outward from the edge of the ulcer about an inch, 
with a sharp outer border. Not only was the axilla filled with en- 
larged and indurated lymphatics at this time, but the supraclavicu- 
lar glands were prominent in the now emaciated patient. The 
tongue was dry and the pulse accelerated, the temperature variable, 
and the patient’s face expressing great anxiety. I could do no 
better than prescribe Arsenicum 3x trit., of which she received one 
grain every two hours. If there was any question of diagnosis as 
to the sudden inflammatory symptoms on the morning of Decem- 
ber 19th, there was none on the following day, for the inflammation 
of the skin had spread rapidly, extending upwards to the neck and 
downward to near the crest of the ilium. The inflamed portion of 
the skin was somewhat raised, with a sharply defined irregular 
border, intensely red, hard to the touch, but pitting slightly on 
pressure from displacement of serous infiltration beneath. It was 
undoubtedly erysipelas. Under the Arsenicum the febrile symp- 
toms abated, the severe burning became less, sleep was induced, 
and while the thirst lessened, the appetite, which had entirely dis- 
appeared, improved. I next noticed a rapid disappearance of the en- 3 
larged lymphatics of the supraclavicular and axillary regions, and 
within ten days they were scarcely perceptible. Then the cancer- 
ous mass itself began to grow smaller; the ulcerated excavation 
became more and more dry and less offensive, and on January 22d, 
1888, nothing remained of the neoplasm but a puckered cicatrix, 
about two inches long and one-half inch wide. In the meantime 
the general health improved marvelously, too; the appetite became 
excellent, food was readily digested and assimilated, she fleshed up, 
slept well, and suffered very little discomfort in any way. Indeed, 
so thoroughly restored was she, that, despite a fracture of the left 
humerus, induced by a fall while getting out of bed on the morning 
of April 5th, 1888, repair, under surgical treatment, was rapid, and 
on April 29th it was possible to remove all dressings and to begin 
motion at the shoulder and elbow joints. At the present time she 
has complete use of the arm, is in good flesh, goes about the house 
as freely as her impaired vision from senile cataract will permit, and 
for one in her eighty-fourth year is in a fairly good condition. 
There are some interesting points about the case I will sum- 
marize: 
1st. The unusual age of the patient when the growth was first 
noticed. 
2d. The relief of pain and other subjective symptoms by the 
selected remedies, viz., Conium, Belladonna and Lachesis. 
3d. The rapid disappearance of all the signs of a malignant 
growth (except the cicatrix) and the attendant cachexia, on the 
supervention of erysipelas. 
4th. The marked amelioration of the symptoms of the erysipe- 
las from the Arsenicum. ' 
5th. The rapid repair of a fractured arm, occurring so late in life 
and so soon after the disappearance of the neoplasm. 
I am not quite satisfied that the erysipelas alone cured the 
cancer; the Arsenicum may have had something to do with the re- 
sult. That the disease was a carcinoma I have not the least doubt, 
although I must admit that no microscopic examination of the tis- 
sues had been made at any time; but the history of the growth and 
the macroscopic appearances were so marked in favor of carcinoma, 
that I deemed the microscopic test unnecessary;’ and with my diag- 
nosis two experts agreed. Will there be a recurrence ? Time 
alone will tell, and I shall watch the case with interest. And now 
for an important question : In the light of this case, would one be 
justified in inoculating a patient suffering from cancer, where opera- 
tive measures were contraindicated, with the virus of erysipelas, to 
bring about a possible obliteration of the neoplasm? 
Postscript—This patient died of senile bronchitis on December 
4th, 1888, without showing any evidence of a recurrence of cancer. 
An autopsy was not permitted.