Walter Freudenthal (6 May 1893 – 27 March 1952) was a German-Jewish dermatologist who gave the earliest clear

histopathological Histopathology (compound of three Greek language, Greek words: 'tissue', 'suffering', and ''-logy, -logia'' 'study of') is the light microscope, microscopic examination of Tissue (biology), tissue in order to study the manifestations of dis ...

description of keratoma senile (

actinic keratosis Actinic keratosis (AK), sometimes called solar keratosis or senile keratosis, is a Premalignant condition, pre-cancerous area of thick, scaly, or crusty skin.Freedberg, et al. (2003). ''Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine''. (6th ed. ...

) in 1926 in Breslau. In 1933, he moved to London to escape the Nazi regime and worked as a dermatopathologist at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

(UCH) in London where he coined the term

keratoacanthoma Keratoacanthoma (KA) is a common low-grade (unlikely to metastasize or invade) rapidly-growing skin tumour that is believed to originate from the hair follicle (pilosebaceous unit) and can resemble squamous cell carcinoma. The defining characteris ...

in the 1940s. He worked with dermatologist Geoffrey Barrow Dowling on the connection between

dermatomyositis Dermatomyositis (DM) is a Chronic condition, long-term inflammatory disorder, inflammatory Autoimmune disease, autoimmune disorder which affects the skin and the muscles. Its symptoms are generally a skin rash and worsening muscle weakness over ...

and

scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas ...

and was later appointed to the first readership in dermatological histology by London University. In addition to lecturing, demonstrating specimens at the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

and postgraduate training, Freudenthal wrote many papers on his histopathological findings, and chapters in dermatology textbooks.

Early life

Walter Freudenthal was born on 6 May 1893 in Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland) in the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part of the German Empire in 1871. In 1919, as ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, into a Jewish family of physicians. In 1913 he began to study medicine in Geneva, but this was interrupted by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Returning to Breslau in 1919, he resumed his medical education and completed it at the clinic of the Friedrich-Wilhelms University (now the University of Wrocław), graduating in 1920.

Early career

While working in the histopathology laboratory and being in charge of the male ward in the outpatient clinic, he became a university lecturer and then full professor. He became concerned that existing skin treatments were inadequate and started to work with a pharmacist to educate himself on the chemical content of various ointments and creams. At the same time, he lectured on

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

, dermatohistopathology and related topics. He was particularly influenced by Breslau's chair of dermatology

Josef Jadassohn Joseph (Josef) Jadassohn (10 September 1863 in Liegnitz – 24 March 1936 in Zurich) was a Germans, German dermatologist. Biography He was an assistant to Albert Neisser at the Allerheiligen Hospital in Breslau until 1892, the director of the u ...

, and was his assistant from 1920 to 1933 at the Breslau University. He also worked alongside other well-known names in the field of dermatology, such as W. N. Goldsmith,

Max Jessner Max Jessner (2 November 1887 – 27 August 1978) was a German dermatologist and university professor. In 1928 he travelled to Buriat-Mongolia on an expedition to study syphilis and the effects of the anti-syphilitic drug Salvarsan. After escaping ...

and Rudolph L. Mayer. After receiving his MD in 1922, he became a

privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

in 1929. His most significant works were written at Breslau. He examined 14 biopsy specimens of lesions taken from the skin of either the back of the hands or the upper face from 13 people aged between 34 and 76. He gave the earliest histopathological definition of these lesions, which he called keratoma senile (

), and distinguished them from verruca senilis (

seborrheic keratosis A seborrheic keratosis is a non-cancerous ( benign) skin tumour that originates from cells, namely keratinocytes, in the outer layer of the skin called the epidermis. Like liver spots, seborrheic keratoses are seen more often as people age. The ...

). The description appeared in the ''

Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis ''Archives of Dermatological Research'', published by Springer Science+Business Media, is a peer-reviewed medical journal that focuses on dermatology, skin disease. It was established as the in 1869 by Heinrich Auspitz and Philipp Josef Pick. Spri ...

'' in 1926 and was regarded by his colleagues as important. He also proposed that keratoma senile might be caused by sunlight.

University College Hospital

Like many other Jewish physicians at his university, the Nazi takeover in 1933 resulted in the withdrawal of his permission to lecture, and in due course he moved to England. On arrival in London he was asked to recertify in order to practice medicine. He opted against this and instead, with the help of Sir Archibald Gray, who had already recruited Freudenthal's old friend from Breslau W. N. Goldsmith, took up studies in dermatohistopathology at University College Hospital (UCH) in London. It was in this field that he was eventually appointed to the teaching faculty. During the Second World War, he assisted in the outpatient department of UCH, and after the war he became active in postgraduate training of home and international dermatologists. In 1945 he was elected to the first readership in dermatological histology at UCH. He also wrote about numerous other skin conditions including

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weigh ...

, glomus tumour, mucin in

granuloma annulare Granuloma annulare (GA) is a rare, sometimes chronic skin condition which presents as reddish bumps on the skin arranged in a circle or ring. It can initially occur at any age, though two-thirds of patients are under 30 years old, and it is seen ...

and

Kaposi’s sarcoma Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is a type of cancer that can form masses on the skin, in lymph nodes, in the mouth, or in other organs. The skin lesions are usually painless, purple and may be flat or raised. Lesions can occur singly, multiply in a limite ...

. Encouragement and collaboration with dermatologist Geoffrey Dowling led to an interest in the relationship between

and

. He regularly attended the meetings of the dermatology section of the Royal Society of Medicine and demonstrated his specimens on the screen. His comments were reported in their ''Proceedings''. In addition, he noted significant

acanthosis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water relea ...

in a lesion he was studying and coined the term "keratoacanthoma" which was adopted by dermatologist Arthur Rook and pathologist Ian Whimster in 1950.

Death and legacy

Freudenthal suffered from constant headaches and heart disease in the final five years of life and, following a morning's work in the laboratory, died in London on 27 May 1952 at the age of 58. His wife survived him. The poet Ruth Hoffmann, who was also a friend of Freudenthal, devoted a significant section of her book to him. ''Meine Freunde aus Davids Geschlecht (My friends from David’s lineage)'' was published in 1947 in Berlin and contained a description of him, which was quoted by a colleague:

A man with thinning, blackish hair, an unmistakable, nimble, bird-like gait, who would disappear as fast as he had approached. He would depart with a short farewell, which would not last longer than the usual good-bye on the main station of Breslau after a weekend trip, even when it involved foreign travel, the ocean, years, and war.

Numerous textbooks and articles by other dermatologists refer to him as Freudenthal of Wrocław.

Selected publications

Articles

"Verruca senilis und Keratoma senile"
''

'', June 1926, Volume 152, Issue 2, pp. 505–528. * "Amyloid in der Haut." ''Archiv für Dermatologie und Syphilis'', 1930, pp. 40–94.
"Nodular Non-Diabetic Cutaneous Xanthomatosis with Hypercholesterolæmia and Atypical Histological Features"
co-authored with F. Parkes Weber, ''

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, located in London, with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to ...

'', 1 March 1937, .
"Sarcoid"
'' British Journal of Tuberculosis and Diseases of the Chest'', 1 January 1948, , pp. 11–16.

Book chapters

"Skin Biopsy"
in Sidney Campbell (Ed.) ''Dyke's Recent Advances in Clinical Pathology'', Blakiston, 1951.
"Pseudoxanthoma elasticum and warts and condylomata"
co-authored with Rudolph Spitzer in J. Jadassohn’s ''Handbuch der Haut- und Geschlechtskrankheiten: Nicht Entzündliche Dermatosen II'', Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GMBH, 1969.