Basal cell carcinoma historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Saarah T. Alkhairy, M.D., Maneesha Nandimandalam, M.B.B.S.[2]

In 1827, Jacob Arthur, reported the “rodent ulcer“. In 1900, Edmund Krompecher, identified the histological features as an epithelial carcinoma.

• In 1827, Jacob Arthur, an Irish ophthalmologist, reported a cutaneous difficult-to-eradicate lesion. He coined the term “rodent ulcer“. Rodent ulcers are now known as an ulcerating basal cell carcinoma.^[1]
• In 1900, Edmund Krompecher, a German physician, identified the features of the rodent ulcer as an epithelial carcinoma.^[1]
• The number of cases of basal cell carcinoma doubled between 1970 and 1986.^[1]