page_title: Arthur Rook (dermatologist)
section_title: Keratoacanthoma
hierarchical_section_title: Arthur Rook (dermatologist) / Career / Keratoacanthoma
caption_attribution_description: English: Keratoacanthoma, on the skin of the breast Español: Queratoacantoma, en la piel de una mama Català: Queratoacantoma, en la pell d'una mama
context_page_description: Arthur James Rook FRCP was a leading British dermatologist and the principal author of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology, known as "Rook's", which reached its ninth edition in 2016.
  Rook was closely associated with Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, as a consultant dermatologist and later wrote the history of that hospital. He was the editor of the British Journal of Dermatology, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, and of the International Society of Tropical Dermatology, was elected an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and became the president of the British Society for the History of Medicine.
  Together with Ian Whimster, he wrote important articles on keratoacanthoma and blistering skin diseases.
context_section_description: Described as a "crateriform ulcer of the face" by Sir Jonathan Hutchinson in 1889, it was then named "molluscum sebaceum" in 1936 by MacCormac and Scarf, before the term keratoacanthoma was coined by histopathologist Walter Freudenthal and then first formally used by Rook and the pathologist Ian Whimster in 1950. They noted that the condition lacked much attention despite being so common and indicated that despite the suggestion that keratoacanthoma was histologically malignant, they believed the lesion was clinically benign. Their findings of spontaneous regression when left untreated were later confirmed. Despite making a distinction between squamous-cell carcinoma and keratoacanthoma, subsequent reports of metastasis of keratoacanthomas, particularly in immunosuppressed people, have been made. In 1979, Rook and Whimster revised their work and mentioned that squamous cell carcinoma could develop in a keratoacanthoma. Despite being common lesions, much about keratoacanthomas remains a matter of debate. Although Rook and Whimster believed it to originate from the excretory ducts of sweat glands, other schools of thought have its origin in the hair follicle or the surface epithelium. In addition, although the distinct crater has been shown to be a hallmark of a keratoacanthoma, other benign or malignant skin lesions have also been shown to exhibit similar appearances.
caption: Keratoacanthoma
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