Abstract
Hospital, Ottawa, Canada and ^Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. Survey-type electron micrographs correlated with semithin plastic sections (Fig. 2) were used in an ultrastructural study of 24 cases of salivary gland pleomorphic adenoma in order to assess tumor cell types and their organization in cellular regions and the gradual alterations occurring with the development of myxoid areas. Such micrographs confirm the presence of two principal cell types with smaller numbers of highly organized luminal epithelial cells forming duct- or acinar-like structures and more numerous, angular, mosaically or loosely arranged tumor cells surrounding luminal type cells. As is evident in Figure 1, darker staining, angular tumor cells just external to duct luminal cells have a specific and intimate association with luminal cells through cell processes and well developed desmosomes. Despite the lack of classical features of myoepithelial cells, the organizational arrangement of the two cell types and the distinctly different cytologic features of tumor cells external to luminal epithelial cells suggests that the former cell type represents myoepithelial cells modified as a result of neoplastic induction (Figs. 1 and 2).
Published Version
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