Rudolf Virchow and modern aspects of tumor pathology

Abstract

Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), the great German pathologist of the 19th century, founder of the "Zellularpathologie", also dealt with principal problems of tumor pathology. His theoretical concepts concern the definition and characterization of the tumor process, the dignity and diagnosis, published especially in his 3 monographs "Die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Krebses" (1847), "Handbuch der speciellen Pathologie und Therapie" (1854) and "Die krankhaften Geschwülste" (1863-65). The achievements of Rudolf Virchow are not related to the description and diagnosis of specific tumors together with their genesis and interpretation. There have been quite a few errors and false concepts which can longer be accepted today. The timeless modernity and topicality of Rudolf Virchow's postulations on tumor pathology is based on his general conclusions which as key propositions have retained general validity throughout more than a century. They have been confirmed and further interpreted by knowledge which has been accumulated largely over the past one or two decades in the fields of tumor research, electron microscopy, molecular biology, genetics, and immunology.