[Carcinomas of internal organs and their relationship to arsenical drinking water in the Republic of Argentina].

Presently exist only four regions where the supply of drinking water with an abnormally high content of arsenic and/or its salts, produces cutaneous signs generically termed "arsenical toxidermias" or "chronic arsenism"; they are: Mexico, Taiwan, Chile and Argentina. In this paper details are given of the typical skin lesions of hydroarsenism and the generally multiple epitheliomas of varied histological and clinical pattern in 340 patients; the diseases characterized for not being acute but chronic and the relanodermia holds a secondary place. Among histologically diagnosed carcinomas, deep basal-cell (276) and superficial multiple basal-cell (130) carcinomas predominate over the squamous-cell carcinomas (239) and Bowen disease (113); 18 mixed carcinomas were found. In these 340 patients, 51 carcinomas of the internal organs (15%), 34 of lungs, 8 of larynx, 3 of stomach, 2 of liver and 1 of pharynx, trachea, esophagus and breast in a man were diagnosed, which evolved in a similar manner to that of not arsenical patients.