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Clinical case: mammary gland

 
A young female consults you because of a lump she has noticed in her left breast during self-examination. Her maternal grandmother had died of breast cancer.

Physical examination of the breasts reveals a hard nodule in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast. The nipple and areolae appear normal with no discharge. Although a mammogram is negative, you decide to refer her to a surgeon.

The subsequent histopathological report reveals an extensive ductal carcinoma in situ.

  • What are the ductuli lactiferi?
  • How is the mammary gland classified?
  • How are the mammary glands subdivided?
  • Which epithelium lines the mammary alveoli?
  • How would you recognise a mammary alveolar cell under the microscope?
  • What are myoepithelial cells and where are they found?
  • How would you distinguish histologically between lactating and non-lactating mammary tissue?
 
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© februarie 2001 - oktober 2007 marius loots