Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Multiple Bowen's Disease in a Patient with a History of Consumption of Traditional Chinese Herbal Balls.
Arsenic has been classified as a class I human carcinogen, meaning that there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity to humans. Arsenic, however, remains a common contaminant in a number of traditional Chinese herbal balls. A 64-year-old man presented with an erythematous erosive patch on the left palm, multiple yellowish scaly patches on the right palm and an erythematous hyperkeratotic patch with bleeding on the left foot dorsum. He also had similar skin lesions on the back and buttock. He had a past medical history of chronic exposure to arsenic through consumption of traditional Chinese herbal balls. Skin biopsy revealed Bowen's disease on the left palm and squamous cell carcinoma on left foot dorsum. We report this case to emphasize that we should investigate patient's history thoroughly, including the use of Chinese herbal balls to find out arsenicism.
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Joon
J
Seok
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Kui Young
KY
Park
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Kapsok
K
Li
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Beom Joon
BJ
Kim
National Police Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Joo Hyun
JH
Shim
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Seong Jun
SJ
Seo
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Myeung Nam
MN
Kim
Department of Dermatology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Chang Kwun
CK
Hong
Arsenic; Arsenic keratosis; Bowen's disease; Chinese herbal ball; Squamous cell carcinoma