ABSTRACT
The mouse has emerged as the primary animal model system for human breast
cancer. The murine mammary gland is similar in structure and function
to the human. The TDLU and LA have similar morphology. The mouse, infected
by MMTV, develops "spontaneous" tumors with specific but limited tumor
phenotypes. The advent of genetic manipulation has created many mice
that develop tumors with unique phenotypes. The unique patterns observed
in the transgenic mammary gland are comparable to hyperplasias and tumors
found in the human mammary gland. Even experienced pathologists have difficulty
distinguishing between lesions from the two species. The morphological
similarities reinforce the utility of the mouse models in understanding
human breast cancer. This essay reviews our experience with the histopathology
of human and mouse mammary disease. The histology of normal, hyperplastic,
dysplastic and neoplastic lesions is compared
THE SLIDE PRESENTATION GIVEN
AT THE AACR MOLECULAR AND PATHOLOGY OF NEOPLASIA: A WORKSHOP ("CANCER CAMP")
JULY 17, 1997 IN KEYSTONE CO. CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING
HERE.
An audiovisual presentation
of the talk given by Drs. Wellings and Cardiff at NCI can be found by clicking
here.
Note about the illustrations. Many of the following are digital images
or drawn from either (1) whole mounts of subgross preparations stained
with hematoxylin at low pH (so that only nuclei are colored), or (2) from
routine histology slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The drawings
permit representation of the full three dimensional field that is often
impossible with the limited depth of focus with a camera. All drawn illustrations
closely represent the subject as observed in the morphological preparations.
The magnifications are shown as units of length marked directly on the
drawings. The terms "acinus" and "alveolus" are synonymous. The medium
for the drawings is pen, black ink and gray tone watercolor wash. The images
were taken with a Kontronic camera and digitized using Adobe Photoshop.
July 15, 1998