[The role of autopsy from the viewpoint of pathologists at medical schools].

The results of a questionnaire dealing with the role of pathological anatomy in cancer clinics were reported. The questionnaire was distributed among pathological departments (168) and clinicopathological sections (29) of all medical schools in Japan. The response rate was 69%, and 136 reports were divided into three categories (experimental, human pathological field and a combination of both). There were no clear differences among the pathologists as to the three categories in the recognition of the role of autopsy. The study looked at pathological anatomy in an attempt to put into proper perspective the systems, including clinicopathological conferences, issuance of final reports, manpower, dissatisfaction and other problems of pathological anatomy. The most important matter was increasing the staff in the pathological section due to specialization in each field and the increase in materials examined. The authors also reported our data on autopsied lung cancer with multiple primary cancer as one of the organ pathologies considered in the workshop.