Cancer of the Cervix, Diagnosis of Early Forms

Under the sponsorship of the Trustees of the Ciba Foundation, distinguished scientists from all over the world are invited to partake in small conferences dealing with controversial subjects in the field of medicine. The proceedings of such a study group are published in the booklet: Cancer of Cervuix, Diagnosis of Early Forms. The amount of research done in this field during the last two decades is vast, and the reader soon becomes aware that a less broad title would cover the seven papers dealing chiefly with the histopathology of early carcinoma of the uterus. All the authors are prominent scientists and they have studiously avoided over-interpreting their findings. The negative reports are in plurality, and discussions center mostly around suggested subclassifications of more classical clinical and pathological entities. Certain insight is obtained into how borderline cases of carcinoma-in-situ are taken care of in various centers of Europe and the United States. Among the positive results is a report on the morphological changes that occur in the cervix uteri under the influence of ovarian hormones. The possibility of carcinoma-in-situ being withdrawn into the endocervical canal during the postpartem period is discussed. In a similar wav, many endocervical carcinoma begin in the epithelium covering the indrawn cervical glands of the post-menopausal patient. As a whole, the booklet is of value as a supplement to more comprehensive works on the subject. STANLEY ZERNE