World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System
The first edition of the World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System was published in 1979 and took almost a decade to complete.
The second edition followed in 1993 and was considered a great step forward as it incorporated the advances in classification resulting from the introduction of immunohistochemistry.
The WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System has been a story of success over the past decades. There is general agreement that the WHO Classification represents the basis not only for neuropathological diagnosis but also for prognosis and therapy. The world-wide consensus of using this classification system is a remarkable achievement and may serve as a role model for communities working on other neurological diseases where heterogeneous and conflicting classification systems impair scientific and clinical progress.