Report for the year 1911 / Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine ; by Anton Breinl, in collaboration with Frank W. Taylor and T. Harvey Johnson.

  • Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report for the year 1911 / Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine ; by Anton Breinl, in collaboration with Frank W. Taylor and T. Harvey Johnson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    papillae has progressed, so that a number of them, on cross section, appear as '' cancroid pearls.'' Further growth takes place, both in the depth, penetrating the subcutaneous layer, and also on the surface, showing the classical microscopic pic- ture of the epithelioma of the skin. The microscopic examination of tissue from four cases suffering from kera- t-osis and epithelioma of the skin proves that the keratosis occurring in middle- agevl ])eople may develop into an epithelioma in the same way as a senile keratosis can give ris'^ to skin cancer. We have been able to find, microscopically, all the intenncdiary stages between these two complaints. The above described form of skin ulceration, as has been pointed out previous- ly, is not of rare occurrence. IMost of the patients who came under observation had been living for years in the western parts of North Queensland. The fact that these ulcers occur, without exception, on parts of the body which are exposed to the sun's rays, i.e., on the face or on the arm of persons who lead an outdoor life, as farmers and labourers, etc., seem to indicate that these ulcerations are caused by the influence of the sun on the skin of certain individuals particularly susceptible to it. It is more than a coincidence that most of the cases seen had been living in the dry parts of North Queensland. Keratosis hardly ever occurs amongst the coastal population. Stelwagon^ points out that Carcinoma of the skin is essentially a disease of advancing years somewhat rare before the age of forty, and more commonly seen after fifty or sixty.'' Exceptional instances are now and then noted in which the growth presents itself in earlier years. He quotes Hyde- and Dubreuilh^ as having called attention to the possible factor of continued exposure to the sun's rays as etiological moment for skin cancer. Most of our cases of keratosis and epithelioma occurred in men who were about 40 years of age, and as has been pointed out previously only in fair-haired and fair-skinned individuals. On the whole, one can single out persons by the appearance of their skin, who are likely to be affected by Keratosis and Epithelioma. In our opinion the conclusion is justified that exposure to the influence of the sun may give rise to keratosis and subsequent epithelioma of the skin. In all pro- bability the peculiar dryness of the skin, which is unavoidable in a dry climate, may serve as a predisposing factor. 1. Stehvagon Treatise on Diseases of the Skin, Saunders Company, 1910. 2. Hyde, Americ. Journ. Med. Sci., January, 1906. 3. Dubreuilh Annals, 1907. Ferrer, Ethiologie Cliniqiie de TEpithelioma cutaiie These Bordeaux, 1906-1907.