1810-1855 · Surgeon

Domenico Rigoni-Stern

Italian surgeon who used death registers from the Verona region to compare cancer mortality in married and unmarried women, presented in 1842. His findings on uterine and breast cancer in nuns are discussed in historical reviews of cervical and breast cancer epidemiology.

Milestones

1842 Rigoni-Stern compares cancer deaths by marital status (1842)

Sources

Horn J, Vatten LJ. Reproductive and hormonal risk factors of breast cancer: a historical perspective. Int J Womens Health. 2017;9:265-272.
PubMed DOI
Griffiths M. 'Nuns, virgins, and spinsters'. Rigoni-Stern and cervical cancer revisited. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1991;98(8):797-802.
PubMed DOI