Pathogenesis of Diabetes Mellitus.

nancy have already begun to be appreciated.These studies add another dimension, carcinogenesis.The administration of stilboestrol to the mother in early pregnancy must now be considered as a probable cause of adenocarcinoma de- veloping in their daughters.The onus on investigators is to refute this contention rather than confirm it, and the story should encourage even greater caution before ad- ministering any drug to a pregnant woman.J. Folkman5 has raised another issue-namely, the possible effects of stilboestrol residue in meat.Apparently since 1954 75% of cattle in America have been fed on stilboestrol to increase their weight.Sweden and other countries have already banned the feeding of this hormone to cattle.8In Britain it has been used on a small scale for some time to fatten veal and some poultry and had been passed as safe under the Voluntary Veterinary Products Safety Protection Scheme.This body was last week super- seded by a Veterinary Products Committee set up under the Medicines Commission, and it is to be hoped the new body will examine the facts afresh.Stilboestrol is used for fattening animals in the veal and poultry trade, being injected in a slow-release preparation under the ear of calves and into the back of the head of chickens.These sites have been chosen because they would not enter into human food.But the extent to which stilboestrol may enter it, and the possible consequences, ought to be looked at again.