George N. Papanicolaou, M.D. Father of modern cytology. A 30-year commemorative.

Thirty years have passed since the death of the renowned Dr. George N. Papanicolaou, a man of conviction and discoverer of the Pap smear. Despite difficulties and opposition he remained persistent and developed a method for early cancer detection. Subsequently, use of the Pap smear has resulted in a 70% decrease in cervical and uterine cancer deaths in the last 40 years. It is considered a reliable technique and is still expanding by being applied to other organs and systems and in the use of fine needle aspiration.