Supplementary remarks upon the treatment of cutaneous malignant epithelioma (cancers) / by A.R. Robinson.

Robinson, Andrew Rose, 1845-1924.

Date:: [1893?]

Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Supplementary remarks upon the treatment of cutaneous malignant epithelioma (cancers) / by A.R. Robinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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It is not my intention in this paper to go over the ground so thoroughly discussed in the paper oi last year as to the comparative value in certain cases of removal of epitheliomata by the knife and by certain caustics, and therefore refer the reader to that paper and ask his careful consideration of the arguments there advanced—arguments formed upon a theoreti¬ cal and clinical basis. I trust that I have there shown that in a certain class of cases, and these cases include the majority of cutaneous cancers as well as those of the lip, if seen early, a most excellent result, both as regards deformity and reappearance, is ob¬ tained by caustics applied according to the principles laid down, and that in these cases the knife should not be used for the simple reason, so well stated by Mr. Marsden, that the caustic does the work better. I have so often seen and treated epitheliomata both of the cutaneous surface and of the lips in which a permanent cure has been obtained with a scarcely appreciable resulting deformity, that the argument of some surgeons that the knife is the only justifiable agent, is certainly not supported by the results ob¬ served by me both in my own practice and in that of other surgeons. When Mr. Marsden wrote his work in 1869, on “A New and Successful Mode of Treating Certain Forms of Cancer,” he had observed 6,000 cases ill the Cancer Hospital, of London, and when such a careful writer states tliat for certain forms of cancer a suitable caustic is the best method of treat¬ ment, his statements are entitled to special considera¬ tion. If any one will look at the drawings of the illustrative cases shown in his work, showing the