Premium
Breast carcinoma and basal cell epithelia after X‐ray therapy for hirsutism
Author(s) -
Schwartz Robert Allen,
Milgrom Halina,
Burgess Gordon H.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(197911)44:5<1601::aid-cncr2820440510>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , radiation therapy , basal cell carcinoma , skin cancer , malignancy , cancer , dermatology , thyroid , carcinoma , basal (medicine) , pathology , basal cell , insulin
Abstract We report a 60‐year‐old woman with a history of x‐ray therapy for generalized hirsutism at 20 years of age who at the age of 37 years developed the first of numerous basal cell epitheliomas on her trunk, including chest, on a background of radiation damaged skin. At the age of 51 years one of the basal cell epitheliomas was biopsied and an incidental histologic finding was a breast carcinoma. The basal cell epithelioma is clearly linked with x‐ray exposure; breast cancer is less so although there is impressive epidemiologic evidence supporting an association between human breast cancer and radiation exposure. In view of an association between thyroid cancer and dermatologic x‐ray therapy, further investigation of such an association with breast cancer should be considered. It may be wise to evaluate patients who received dermatologic x‐ray exposure to their breasts for possible breast cancer and to consider radiation induced skin damage on or near the skin overlying the thyroid or breasts as a cutaneous marker of internal malignancy or potential internal malignancy.