Percivall Pott and the Chimney Sweeps' Cancer

Percivall Pott and the Chimney Sweeps' Cancer

Overview

The English surgeon Percivall Pott (1714-1788) was the first to establish a causal link between cancer and exposure to a substance in the environment. In 1775 he described the occurrence of cancer of the scrotum in a number of his male patients, whose common history included employment as chimney sweeps when they were young. He related the malignancy to the occupation, and concluded that their prolonged exposure to soot was the cause. Pott's description of this disease, and his concern for the plight of these "chimneyboys," sparked a series of reports by other authors and brought to light a disgrace which took another hundred years to eliminate in England. Pott may legitimately be seen as a precursor to the modern investigators who seek to prevent occupational exposure to hazardous substances.

Background

Historians have variously referred to Pott's report on scrotal cancer as a milestone in the fields ofchemical carcinogenesis (development of a cancer), preventive oncology, environmental health, and occupational medicine. From the time of the Greeks and Romans cancer was viewed as a systemic disease caused by an excess of black bile. Swellings caused by infection, injury, or cancer were indistinguishable.

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