MORPHOLOGICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MAMMARY DYSPLASIAS OCCURRING IN CELL DISSOCIATION-DERIVED MURINE MAMMARY OUTGROWTHS

Abstract

The morphological and histological characteristics of ductal dysplasias that were observed in mammary outgrowths derived from monodispersed mammary cells of carcinogen-treated mice were described. Mammary outgrowths were derived by injecting either 104 or 105 enzymatically dissociated mammary cells, obtained from control or carcinogen-treated BALB/c mice, into gland-free mammary fat pads of syngeneic hosts. The mammary dysplasias observed varied considerably in morphological and histological characteristics. The majority of the lesions were ductal in origin and were associated with epithelial hyperplasia which ranged from mild hyperplasia, in which only a few extra layers of epithelium were present, to severe hyperplasia, in which the ducts and end buds were occluded and distended with epithelial cells. In addition, papillary and lobular lesions were observed which were also associated with varying degrees of hyperplasia. The range of mammary dysplasias observed in these outgrowths closely resembles that of lesions associated with the pathogenesis of mammary carcinoma in mice, rats and humans.