The Paget cell. Mistaken for a parasite in the 19th century

Sir James Paget in 1874 described clinically a disease of the skin that bears his name. Its dermatopathologic aspect was partly elucidated during the years that followed. This led to a theory that the Paget cell was a carcinogenic parasitic body. George Thomas Beatson, on recognizing the erroneous nature of the parasitic theory of cancer, was led logically to propose and successfully to carry out bilateral ovariectomy for advanced cancer of the breast by 1896.