| Abstract: | Cancer as one of the most important human diseases does not present as formidable a problem as infectious disease did a century ago. The diversified cancer program, combining voluntary and governmental agencies in support of research, education and coordinated teamwork in the clinical care of the patient, presents a varied although unified approach to the problem that has never before been available for the study of any single human disease. Pathology, with its applied methods from the basic sciences, has a singular role in the scientific aspect of the cancer program. Representing a new specialty in medicine and embodying an inquiring approach to the study of human disease, pathology has a leading role to play. The pathologist, assuming the new role of “pathologist-physician” brings to the clinical care of the cancer patient the most precise methods of cancer diagnosis. The “pathologist-physician” should be a pivotal member of the “clinical team” in the immediate diagnosis, care and treatment of the cancer patient. |
