Breast Papilloma vs. Papillary Carcinoma

 

 

Uploaded: 2007-08-13,  Updated: 2007-08-13

 

 

Papilloma

Papillary Carcinoma

Clinical

 More common, smaller, younger, serous discharge Less common, larger, older, bloody discharge
Cellularity Lowly to moderately cellular, mixed cell types Marked cellular, single cell type

Patterns

 Papillary clusters, more cohesive, orderly Papillary groups, less cohesive, , disorderly
Fibrovascular Core Present Present
Tumor Cells Cuboidal Tall columnar, apical border, numerous single cells

Pleomorphism

 Moderate pleomorphism, often bland Severe pleomorphism, more uniform
Nuclei Small, oval Large, spindle, elongated, mild to moderate atypia
Nuclear Membrane Smooth Irregular
Chromatin fine, regular Hyperchromatic
Nucleoli Maybe prominent Maybe prominent
Apocrine Metaplasia common No
Sentinel Nuclei Present Few or none, naked tumor nuclei may be present
Background Cystic content, hemosiderin, may show infarction Cyst, necrosis, hemosiderin

 

Reference
 

  • The art and science of cytopathology. Richard M Demay, MD. 1996
  Summarized by Zenggang Pan, MD, PhD