Key Object Page

Carcinoma

This specimen comes from a ship’s captain who was bitten by a shark when sailing the Persian Gulf. The bite severely lacerated part of his foot and ankle, but he survived the attack escaping only with some loss of movement due to ligament damage and a lot of scarring. The wound healed and there was little trouble for over thirty years at sea, until a growth appeared on the heel. A biopsy revealed it was a squamous carcinoma, a skin cancer, and the leg was amputated.