Low power: DQ stain
Small cohesive flat sheets of benign ductal cells
Medium power: DQ stain
Small cohesive flat sheet of benign ductal cells
Small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm
High power: DQ stain
Flat honeycomb sheet of benign ductal cells
Small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei, relatively smooth nuclear membranes, and delicate cytoplasm
Low power: Pap stain
Small cohesive flat sheets of benign ductal cells
Medium power: Pap stain
Small cohesive flat sheet of benign ductal cells
Small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm
High power: Pap stain
Small cohesive flat sheet of benign ductal cells
Small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm
High power: Pap stain
Flat sheet of benign ductal cells with small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm
Note myoepithelial cells (like sesame seeds on a bun) on different focal plane
High power: Pap stain
Benign ductal cells with small uniform cells with round to oval nuclei and delicate cytoplasm
High power: Pap stain
Ductal cells with apocrine metaplasia
Note prominent nucleoli and granular cytoplasm
Features
• Benign aspirates typically scantly cellular
• Cohesive 2D flat sheets and small clusters
• May have crowding and piling up when hyperplastic
• Small uniform cells
• Scant delicate cytoplasm
• May be granular when cells have apocrine metaplasia
• Small round to oval nuclei
• Smooth nuclear membranes
• May have nuclear grooves
• May have intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions
• Fine chromatin
• Inconspicuous nucleoli (except in apocrine metaplasia
• Usually clean
• Myoepithelial cells with oval elongated nuclei
– Within ductal cells group (above plane of focus like sesame seeds on a bun)
– Single naked nuclei