Scrotal cancer, chimney sweepers and Sir Percival Pott

Abstract

The 18th century was linked to a type of skin cancer with a clear professional etiology: scrotal carcinoma in chimney sweeps. Sir Percival Pott had the merit of identifying the disease as a malignant and inexorable process and of describing its natural evolution. In this article, we present some historical aspects of such description, as well as the working environment of the main individuals affected by this cancer, who were children carrying out the work of chimney sweeps.