Author: Alan R

In 1890 the pathologist William Russell reported spherical forms in histopathologic sections from cancer which he interpreted as "the parasite of cancer." These forms were subsequently discredited as microbial forms but have became known to every pathologist as "Russell bodies." Identified in a wide variety of disease states, these forms are now widely considered to be immunoglobulins. This paper reviews the case for Russell's original belief that these forms are microbial in nature and in origin. It is theorized that Russell bodies are derived from bacterial-sized intracellular organisms that have been reported in cancer, proliferative, and inflammatory diseases by various authors over the past century. It is also suggested that some larger-sized Russell bodies could represent large L-forms (so-called "large bodies") that develop from the small coccal-sized intracellular and extracellular microbes described in cancer. Obviously Russell's idea of a cancer parasite is heretical. However, newer findings of the universal presence of cell wall-deficient bacteria in the blood of all human beings should lead to a reconsideration of the idea that such bacteria might be implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer. Furthermore, Russell bodies might represent cell wall-deficient growth forms of these universal bacteria in histopathologic sections and support Russell's nineteenth century view of an infectious agent in cancer.