title: Cytological analysis of benign breast disease.
abstract: The different histological lesions of benign breast disease (BBD) are the result of interactions and regional prevalence of epithelial, myoepithelial, apocrine, and "null" (undifferentiated) cell types. We conducted an immunocytochemical analysis on 14 cases of BBD. Specific markers were employed to identify the different cell types; proliferation in these cells was revealed either by bromo-deoxyuridine uptake or PCNA ("cyclin") localization. The results indicate that apocrine cells do not undergo proliferation, representing therefore a terminally differentiated cell. The question related to the preneoplastic potential of BBD and on which cell type might possibly represent the precursor of in situ cancerous lesions remains unanswered. However, our data tend to exclude that such a putative proliferating precursor might be represented by apocrine or myoepithelial cells or even by the epithelial cells featuring epitheliosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, University of Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bussolati
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sapino
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gugliotta
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macrì
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002455:Cell Division; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged