CHEMISTRY OF BOWENS DISEASE - RELATIONSHIP TO ARSENIC

[摘要] Determinations from analysis for arsenic content in cutaneous lesions of Bowen''s disease from 50 adult patients are presented in this study. Normal skin and a variety of cutaneous lesions and diseases from 126 patients were similarly analyzed. Ninety-five per cent of the Bowen''s and control patients had no previous history of arsenic intake. Our data indicate that in lesions and in the adjacent skin, arsenic is present in increased amounts in a significantly greater proportion of Bowen''s patients than in the lesions of the controls. On the basis of our study, the Bowen''s lesion usually concentrated arsenic more than did control lesions. In the majority of patients, the lesions had arsenic values higher or the same as those of the normal adjacent skin. In patients with multiple lesions from different parts of the body; we noted individual variations in arsenic content of different lesions. No striking relationship could be established between arsenic values and different anatomic sites. The histopathologic changes in routine sections were of value in determining possible histogenesis and patho-genesis of the Bowen''s lesion. The epithelial tissue involved in Bowen''s disease is probably the undifferentiated cell of the external root sheath of the pilosebaceous apparatus. Our observations strongly suggest that arsenic could be one of the causes of Bowen''s disease and that the internal and cutaneous cancer present in these patients may well represent the systemic manifestations of this strong chemical carcinogen.