The History of the TNM System The TNM System for the c1assification of malignant tumours was developed by Pierre Denoix (France) between the years 1943 1 and 1952. In 1950 the UICC appointed a Committee on Thmour Nomen clature and Statistics and adopted, as a basis for its work on clini cal stage c1assification, the general definitions of local extension of malignant tumours suggested by the World Health Organiza tion (WHO) Sub-Committee on The Registration of Cases of 2 Cancer as weIl as their Statistical Presentation. In 1953 the Committee held a joint meeting with the Interna tional...

Since the first edition of Histological Typing of Tumours of the Eye and Its Adnexa, published in 1980, immunohistochemistry and find ings in molecular biology have contributed to our knowledge of the histogenesis of many tumours. These findings have been incorporat ed in this current text. The classification has been confined largely to true neoplasms. Tumour-like lesions (e.g. reactive lymphoid hyper plasia, pterygium, telangiectasia) are grouped with the benign tumours. Changes in nomenclature reflect an update in knowledge of morphological identification of cell types, behavioural...

This classification represents a project aimed at bringing together the variety of ways thymic epithelial neoplasms have been classified. It focuses on their growth characteristics, and cytoarchitectural features . The classification, though restricted to the thymic region rather than the mediastinum in general, also covers neuroendocrine, germ cell, lymphoid, and stromal tumours, as well as tumour-like lesions and the neck tumours of thymic or related branchial pouch derivation.