A Note from History:The Saga of Carcinoid and Oat-Cell Carcinoma

摘要

Ever since epithelial tumors were recognized in the early 1800s, the tumors were divided into small-cell and large-cell forms. Pathologists had no difficulty distinguishing the benign and malignant large-cell tumors but they had considerable problems separating benign and malignant small-cell tumors.In 1907, with the intent to solve the dilemma, Siegfried Oberndorfer (1876-1944) of Germany introduced the term "carcinoid" for small-cell tumors of the intestines . By coining the word "carcinoid," he implied "carcinoma-like."