[Clinical pathology. Current tasks and developmental trends]

An enormous increase of histological and cytological examination has been observed during recent years. Further, the examinations performed today have to be more extensive. In oncology, the trend runs towards an individualized therapy according to histomorphology, grade and stage. As a consequence the importance of surgical pathology is increasing. The surgical pathologist is engaged in applied research. This is necessary as well as basic research in pathology. In classical European pathology, the autopsy room is the central room of the institute. On the contrary, surgical pathology considers operating theaters and endoscopy rooms as focus. It has gained an importance and will continue to do so in the future.