Epidermoid carcinoma of the hand

T HE purposes of this article are to de-Known d e a ~h s with cancer still present conscribe the pathological alterations on the stitute 15 per cent (ten of seventy-one).Of dorsa of the hand, fingers, and forearm the latter, three cases received no treatment; leading to carcinoma, and to correlate the two patients refused treatment and one died evolution of this carcinoma with treatment and prognosis.This series comprises seventy-two consecutive epidermoid carcinomas in seventy-one patients, treated during the period Nay, 1940, through December, 1945.All these tumors were located on the dorsa of the hand, fingers, and forearm.With one exception, all patients were outdoor workers, principally farmers.Eleven were women.T h e median age of the group was 74 years.Histological proof of the presence of cancer was available in all cases.In thirteen cases, only a biopsy was obtained; in the remainder, the entire lesion was excised.During this same period and from the same areas, sixty-five biopsies or excisions of senile keratoses were .performedand six basal-cell carcinomas were treated.