Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan;82(1):53-69.
doi: 10.1111/his.14826.

Breast lesions with myoepithelial phenotype

Maria P Foschini  1   2 , Rieko Nishimura  3 , Viscardo Paolo Fabbri  1   4 , Zsuzsanna Varga  5 , Handan Kaya  6 , Gábor Cserni  7   8
Affiliations
Review

Breast lesions with myoepithelial phenotype

Maria P Foschini et al. Histopathology. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Myoepithelial cells (MECs) constitute a continuous layer of cells surrounding the breast glands, localised between the epithelial cells (ECs) and the basal membrane. MECs play important roles in normal mammary gland as they produce basal membrane and stimulate secretion. During neoplastic transformation, MECs act as a barrier preventing stromal invasion. MECs themselves can undergo a great variety of changes, ranging from hyperplastic to metaplastic, to neoplastic, and giving rise to a wide spectrum of morphological pictures sometimes difficult to interpret on routine diagnoses. Several benign and malignant breast tumours can present features of MECs differentiation. As these latter tumours are quite infrequent, the purpose of the present study is to offer a review of the morphological spectrum of MECs lesions, with correlations to prognosis.

Keywords: breast; epithelial cell; myoepithelial cell; myoepithelial cell differentiation; myoepitheliosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hamperl H. The myothelia (myoepithelial cells). Normal state; regressive changes; hyperplasia; tumors. Curr. Top. Pathol. 1970; 53; 161-220.
    1. Murad TM, Von Haam E. Ultrastructure of myoepithelial cells in human mammary gland tumors. Cancer 1968; 21; 1137-1149.
    1. Maguire A, Quinn C, Maguire S et al. The role of immunohistochemistry in diagnostic breast pathology. Diagn. Histopathol. 2022; 28; 126-141.
    1. Foschini MP, Scarpellini F, Gown AM, Eusebi V. Differential expression of myoepithelial markers in salivary, sweat and mammary glands. Int. J. Surg. Pathol. 2000Jan; 8; 29-37.
    1. Moritani S, Ichihara S, Yatabe Y et al. Immunohistochemical expression of myoepithelial markers in adenomyoepithelioma of the breast: a unique paradoxical staining pattern of high-molecular weight cytokeratins. Virchows Arch. 2015; 466; 191-198.