title: Nonspecific alkaline phosphatase activity in normal and diseased human breast.
abstract: Nonspecific alkaline phosphatase activity was identified in human normal and diseased breasts with the use of the calcium-cobalt, the lead-nitrate, and the azo-dye methods. The results varied not only with the staining method, but also with the functional status of the breast structures. In normal, dysplastic, and fibroadenomatous tissues there was a strong parallelism between myoepithelial and capillary enzyme activities. The calcium-cobalt method was the only technique which allowed staining of carcinoma cells; cancer stromal enzyme activity was evidenced only with the use of the same method. Our findings suggest that nonspecific alkaline phosphatase activity probably reflects a functional status of the labelled structures; the enzyme activity of myoepithelial cells is variable and not really specific.
mesh_terms: D000232:Adenofibroma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis*; D001940:Breast / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase