EDITORIAL

An Anniversary Fifty Years o f the International Academy o f Cytology

The International Academy of Cytology (IAC) will be 50 years old on July 13 !00"# It is now a well$established forum for international gatherings and a medium of communication among cytologists the world o%er# I was &ri%ileged to witness die birth of the Academy# After die in%ention of the microsco&e and its many im&ro%ements which occurred in the early days of die 1'th century die study of cells was (uite common# The basic obser%ations by )onne *ouchet +uller ,ebert and -eale established some of die bases of cytology# As early as 1./5 ,ebert &ro&osed the use of cytology for diagnostic &ur&oses# 0owe%er cytology was soon re&laced by histology because of technical de%elo&ments diat allowed for &rocessing of tissues sam&les which were easier to inter&ret and better re&roducible than cell sam&les#Cytology remained dormant during the second half of die 1'th and first half of the !0th centuries# It was fortuitous that 1eorge 2# *a&anicolaou Assistant *rofessor of

Anatomy at die Cornell 3ni%ersity +edical 4chool in 2ew 5or6 who was by &rimary &rofession an e7&erimental endocrinologist disco%ered cancer cells in %aginal smears of women whose menstrual cycle he was studying# 0e &resented his obser%ations at an obscure conference on 8ace -etterment in -at$ tle Cree6 +ichigan in +ay 1'!.#1 ! 4omewhat ahead of *a&anicolaou was Aurel -abes a 8omanian &adiol$ogist who used die bacteriologic loo& to obtain cell sam&les from the cer%ices of women# -abes &ublished a beautifully illustrated article in the 9ournal Pressc Medkale in A&ril 1'!.: and suggested diat cancer of die uterine cer%i7 can be diagnosed in a &rein%asi%e stage# The busy &rofessional acti%ities of -abes in -ucharest did not gi%e him die o&&ortunity to &romote his in%estigations and to &ublish more information in die international medical &ress# ;or se%eral years after his initial &resentation *a&anicolaou did not &ursue the issue of genital cancer diagnosis in women by smear# This changed with the arri%al of Jose&h 0insey die new chairman of the )e&artment of Anatomy at Cornell in 1'3'# 0insey arranged

for *a&anicolaou to 9oin forces with the gy$ necologist 0erbert Traut to start a systematic study of %aginal smears for the detection of cancer# The 9oint &a&er by *a&anicolaou and Traut &ublished in 1'/1 and a boo6 &ublished in 1'/3 established the role of cytology as a medium of detection of &recancerous lesions and early cancer of the cer%i7 and endometri$ um#/ )r# Charles Cameron +edical )irector of the American Cancer 4ociety in 1'/" acti%ely &romoted cytology as a means of uterine cancer detection# Con%entional tissue &athologists were e7tremely reluctant to ado&t the time$ consuming and tedious inter&retation of %aginal smears and later of cer%ical smears &ro&osed in 1'/. by J# <rnest Ayre# As an e7am&le die famous surgical &athologist ;red =# 4tewart of +emorial 0os&ital for Cancer in 2ew 5or6 who &artici&ated in a conference on cer%ical cancer in -oston in 1'/. is alleged to ha%e said >a bio&sy is better#>5 It too6 many years to &ersuade the &racticing &athologist diat

cytology was an im&ortant diagnostic tool# -eginning in 1'51 there was increasing e%idence that cytologic method of cer%i7 cancer detection might be life$sa%ing# Initially cytology laboratories were organi?ed in die 3nited 4tates and <uro&e by gynecologists some &adiologists aware of the %alue of die method and other interested clinicians among diem )rs# ,# 1# @oss in 2ew 5or6 James =# 8eagan in Cle%elandA 1eorge ,# =ied in ChicagoA 1# Ter?ano in ArgentinaA J# de -ru7 and C# +arsan in ;ranceA Binser 4toll and 4oost in 1ermanyA 8# -ourg and J# *# *undel in -elgiumA ,o&e? Cardo?o in 0ollandA and <# =achtel in 1reat -ritain# In <uro&e one of die first cytology boo6s de%oted to cancer of the uterus was based on the e7&erience of the *r 8# -ourg laboratory established in -russels#Two of the >cytologists > notably 8udi 1raham who was a cytotechnician and die &rinci&al author of one of die first boo6s on cytology and J# <rnest Ayre

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ACTA CYTOLOGICA

0001 -5547/07/5104-0506/$ 19.00/0 The International Academy of Cytolo y