1 - Historical perspective

Summary

The first documented evidence in English literature of cell examination in disease processes appears during the nineteenth century, when malignant cells from a mammary carcinoma were recognized and reported by Professor Johannes Müller of the University of Berlin (Figure 1.1). (Professor Müller trained a number of medical pioneers including Rudolf Virchow, Friedrich Henle, Robert Koch, Paul Ehrlich, and Theodor Schwann.) Alfred Donné is credited with identifying abnormal cells in vaginal smears, and published the first cytology atlas in 1845 containing photomicrographs of cells. In the same year, Lebert published an atlas with 250 cytology figures. He is believed to have laid the foundation of modern cytology. In 1852, Babo developed a centrifuge that he used to study specimens from the body cavity fluids and urinary tract (Figure 1.2).

In 1850, Gottlieb documented cancer cells in detail in an atlas. He wrote:

In cancer … the cells present peculiarities. The characteristic cancer cells are spherical, ovoid, irregularly polyhedral, and frequently exhibit caudate prolongations. They possess finely granular contents, with a round or oval nucleolated nucleus as large as or larger than a pus-corpuscle. Sometimes cancer cells are double the ordinary size or more and not infrequently contain several nuclei, or even other cells constituting parent or endogenous cells.

Lionel S. Beale – Professor of Pathology, Physiology and Medicine at King's College London – should truly be considered the father of cytology. He examined urinary specimens with water and glycerin and reported papillary fragments with cancer cells.