G. Papanikolaou

It was only recently that the Greek government published its 10,000 drachma bill. On one of its sides, the internationally renowned figure of Georgios Papanikolaou is honored. The Greek doctor George Papanikolaou was born in 1883 at Kimi on the island of Evia and died in 1962. He studied at the University of Athens and then in Germany. Later, he taught at Cornell University in the US. Cervix cancer is the third most common malignant neoplasia of the female's reproductive system.

Thirteen thousand new cases and 4,500 deaths are reported every year in almost all countries around the world. Since 1950, the incidence of mortality has been decreased for about 3-4% per year. As a result, according to the statistics, decrease is almost nearly 50% since 1947. The latter is due to the invention of Papanikolaou's "smear", or PAP-Smear, as it is worldwide known. In November of 1987, the American Association of Cancer suggested that all the women, who are over 18 years old, should be tested once a year. Papanikolaou was nominated for the Nobel Prize in medicine but did not receive it. The Pap-Smear has constituted Georgios Papanikolaou as one of the most significant contributors to medical science.