DIETHYLSTILBESTROL IN THE TREATMENT OF SENILE SEBACEOUS ADENOMA

IT HAS been shown by Miescher and Schönberg¹that the ratio of sebaceous gland secretion to sebaceous gland area in a given area of the skin is constant. In other words, the amount of sebaceous gland secretion is dependent on the size and number of sebaceous glands only; any substance which increases (or decreases) the sebaceous gland secretion does so by increasing (or decreasing) the size of the sebaceous gland. Basic evidence is accumulating to indicate that the androgens and the estrogens when given internally or applied topically influence the size of the sebaceous gland in laboratory animals as well as in human beings. Androgens (for example, testosterone propionate) cause an increase in the size of the sebaceous gland, as was shown by the studies of Hamilton²and Rony and Zakon³with human subjects, and by Montagna and Kenyon⁴and Hamilton and Montagna⁵with laboratory