Farewell to Analytical Cellular Pathology – The journal of the European Society for Analytical Cellular Pathology (ESACP)

Foundation With the last issue of Analytical Cellular Pathology (ACP) it is time for the editor-in-chief to look back to the journal's toddler and teenage years. In 1986, ESACP was founded in Munich in the context of the Concerted Action for Automated Cytology (CAAC) of the European Community with the goal to promote the advancement of clinically oriented cytometry as it relates to medically oriented cell and tissue imaging in Europe. The founding members decided to launch a new journal addressing all aspects of analytical and quantitative cytology and pathology. As a founding member, I still remember the heated discussions about an attractive name for the journal of the new society. By February 1989 these ideas had materialised with G. Brugal, as editor-in-chief and Elsevier as publisher until 1996 when IOS Press took over. The new journal, Analytical Cellular Pathology, became with respect to impact factor one of the fastest growing journals in the histo-and cytopathology field starting at 1. Reorientation The transient decrease of the impact factor was par-alleled by a decrease of general funding for automated microscopy and image analysis after a technical development peak in the structural assessment on cell, nu-clei and tissues had been reached. Efforts to broaden the basis of ESACP and ACP by the closer inclusion of flow cytometry interest groups through the foundation of a European Federation of Cytometric Societies were, despite significant interest, ultimately not successful. This prompted the reorientation of the society with the ESACP congresses in Oslo 1997 and Heidel-berg 1999 towards the field of molecular and genetic markers in cells and tissues for disease diagnosis and for a better understanding of disease mechanisms. With the typically fluorescence labelled markers new hard-and software platforms appeared. Considering these changes, the layout and cover of the journal were changed as an immediate measure after my election. It was also important to refocus the editorial board and to restructure it by the introduction of section editors for molecular and genetic pathology. The introduction of an electronic documentation system for animated 3D representations, large numbers of coloured figures, etc. on the ESACP Internet server as complement of the print version and accessible through web addresses in the abstracts and articles was another attempt to modernize the journal. The same was true for the new set of mini-reviews on " hot " topics in the field of modern pathology. These changes together with the increased …