Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans occurring in a smallpox
vaccination scar.
Green JJ, Heymann WR.
Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden.
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a locally aggressive, rarely
metastatic, spindle cell tumor. Trauma has been associated with its development.
Since the 1940s, malignant tumors have been described to occur in sites of
smallpox vaccination scars. Five cases in the literature document DFSP arising
in sites of prior immunizations. We report a case of DFSP occurring in a
smallpox vaccination scar and review the available literature.
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"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
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