History of gynecological pathology XIX. Walther Schauenstein: an early austrian pioneer of cervical pathology with comments on his successors.

摘要

At the meeting of the German Society of Pathology in Kiel in 1908, Otto Lubarsch (1860-1933), one of the most prominent German pathologists of the era, stated in his lecture on the Genesis of the Carcinoma of the Cervix uteri: "So far we have not succeeded, even with the finest methods, in detecting cancer in a nondestructive (preinvasive) stage. In principle, a carcinoma can only be diagnosed when clear evidence of destructive (invasive) growth can be observed." He added: "I do not doubt that one can very probably make a diagnosis from the non-destructive parts of a carcinoma in a substantial percentage of cases. However, this is highly subjective and sheds no light whatever on the nature and definition of carcinoma" (1). Lubarsch was by no means alone in this school of thought; indeed, most influential German pathologists, including Rudolf Virchow, strongly supported this viewpoint. Only a few pathologists with interest in gynecologic cancer, such as Robert Meyer, were less opinionated (2). It would take several decades, until about the middle of the 20th century, before the genesis of invasive cervical cancer from recognizable precursor stages was finally accepted. A pioneer in this area whose seminal contributions are not well known to many contemporary investigators is the subject of this essay.