[Ultrastructural characteristics of the parenchymatous cells in breast cancer]

Electron microscopy was used to examine ultrastructure of parenchymatous cells of lobular mammary carcinoma and preservation of an ability of these cells to organ specificity. Ultrastructural characteristics of the cells of intact mammary gland lobules and parenchymatous cells of infiltrative carcinoma were studied and compared. It was shown that lobular mammary carcinoma has dissimilar cellular composition. It is represented by the cells with ultrastructural features characteristic for the three cell types occurring in the intact mammary gland (secretory epithelium, myoepithelium and cambial cells). As regards ultrastructure, parenchymatous cells of lobular mammary carcinoma, like the cells of the normal lobule, are at varying levels of differentiation and in diverse phases of the functional status.