Epithelial Cysts in Buried Human Skin

Abstract

In a previous paper,1we proposed that the different varieties of cutaneous epithelial tumors do not originate from fixed loci, but may spring from any portion of the cutaneous epithelial system, i. e., the epidermis and its derivative adnexa. Basal-cell carcinomas, for example, may arise from the epidermis, the eccrine and apocrine systems, or the pilosebaceous units, though doubtlessly some sites are preferred. Furthermore, we concluded that a tumor, whatever its origin, could differentiate along different and multiple lines, so that its source could not be known positively from its final form; that is to say, it cannot be assumed that a syringoma or trichoepithelioma arises respectively from sweat ducts or hair follicles. The pluripotentiality of the cells making up the cutaneous epithelial system is the biological foundation on which our thesis of tumor formation rests. The capacity of such cells to transform into