Sebaceous Cyst

The object of this paper is to emphasize the importance of sebaceous cyst among the precancerous lesions by a comparison of our group of cases with those reported by others. A review of the literature reveals that only Bishop 1 and Caylor 2 have reported anything of statistical nature. By sebaceous cyst we mean a retention cyst caused by the occlusion of one or more ducts of sebaceous glands with the accumulation of the secretion. Atheroma is a synonym for sebaceous cyst, but we prefer using the latter term, as we feel that it is more descriptive. In 1914 Ricker and Schwalbe 3 stated that reports of forty-three cases of malignant change in sebaceous cysts had been published up to that time. Seff and Berkowitz, 4 Busfield, 5 Narat 6 and others have subsequently reported similar cases, but none of these investigators has had a sufficient series to attempt statistical