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Concept
Chimney sweeps' carcinoma
Summary
Chimney sweep's cancer, also called soot wart, is a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the scrotum. It has the distinction of being the first reported form of occupational cancer, and was initially identified by Percivall Pott in 1775. It was initially noticed as being prevalent amongst chimney sweeps. The disease was also seen in men exposed to mineral oil and those who worked with coal distillates.
This cancer is also referred to as epidermoid carcinoma of the scrotum and epithelioma of the scrotum.
A housing tax, created during the 17th century in England, limited the number of fireplaces per house. To avoid this tax several chimney pipes would be connected to a single fireplace, resulting in angled pipes. The odd chimney structures resulted in complex mechanical cleaning methods. As a result, it was not uncommon for young boys to be hired as chimney sweeps in England in the 1700s and 1800s. Typically, those hired were orphans or children from poor families. Young children, between the ages 5 and 11, were often hired for their ability to fit through the narrow chimney chutes.
Chimney sweeps' carcinoma is a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin of the scrotum. Chimney sweeps' carcinoma was first described by Percivall Pott in 1775 who postulated that the cancer was associated with occupational exposure to soot. The cancer primarily affected chimney sweeps who had been in contact with soot since their early childhood. The median age of onset of symptoms in one review was 37.7 years, although boys as young as 8 years old were found to have the disease. It was proposed by W.G. Spencer in 1890 that sweat running down their bodies had caused soot to accumulate in the rugae of the inferior surfaces of the scrotum, with the resulting chronic irritation causing scrotal cancer, but this was shown to be an incorrect artifact of the method used to stain his microscope slides.
In 1922, R.D.
Official source
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