BASAL CELL CARCINOMA FOLLOWING X‐RAY EPILATION OF THE SCALP.

SOME say that basal cell carcinomata occur more often in areas of radiodermatitis than in normal skin. In X-Rays and Radium in Diseases of ihe Skin by MacKee and Cipollaro (1946) it is said, however, that " malignant neoplasms resulting from treatment with X-rays or radium are usually the squamous-cell (prickle-cell) variety. Baso-squamous-cell neoplasms and, occasionally, pure basal-cell tumours develop in chronic radiodermatitis. Some pathologists believe that these basal-cell lesions are not caused by the radiodermatitis and that they would have occurred without the irradiation injury, or that there is an erroneous histologic diagnosis." In the same book, Montgomery stated that it was doubtful whether basal-cell epithelioma had resulted from radiodermatitis. It was also his impression that epithelioma rarely developed following a single massive dose of x-rays or radium.