Sir Percivall Pott, Sir James Paget, and soot cancer of the hand

A patient presented to him with an enlarging lesion of the palm of the hand. Earle, like Pott, worked at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, UK, and knew about the association between chimney sweeps and cancers of the scrotum ("soot" cancers) first published by Pott in 1775.1 Earle noticed the unusual appearance of this hand cancer and the fact that it was of similar appearance to soot cancers. He inquired whether the patient was a chimney sweep, yet the patient replied that he was a gardener. On further questioning, the patient revealed that his occupation required him to spread ashes in the garden daily and he used this cancerous hand to carry the bucket of ashes. Earle speculated that frequent exposure to soot vapours had caused this cancer.