This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
To the Editor:—
I have just read with much interest and pleasure, the excellent article "Pilomatrixoma (Calcifying Epithelioma)" by Dr. Robert Forbis Jr. and Dr. Elson B. Helwig.In the second paragraph they state "the name Pilomatrixoma is suggested. This name . . . has the advantage of conveying the histogenesis of the tumour and avoids the use of the word epithelioma, which generally indicates a malignant tumor."While I agree with the first half of this statement, I find it a little difficult to reconcile the last part with the following definitions in Gould's Medical Dictionary:
Epithelioma—"Any benign tumor derived from epithelium and composed largely of epithelial cells."
Carcinoma—"An epithelial tumor which is malignant." There should, rightly, be no confusion when either of these terms are used.