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Figure 1 | Breast Cancer Research

Figure 1

From: Hormones, receptors, and growth in hyperplastic enlarged lobular units: early potential precursors of breast cancer

Figure 1

HELUs are much larger than normal TDLUs. This photomicrograph shows a normal type 1 TDLU adjacent to a typical HELU. In this example, the TDLU measures about 0.4 mm in diameter, contains about 150 cells within this area, and approximately 4000 total cells. The HELU measures about 2.0 mm in diameter, contains about 1500 cells within this area, and approximately 200,000 total cells (i.e. a 50-fold increase relative to the TDLU). Estimates of cell counts were based on calculations assuming all cells measure 10 μm in thickness and are evenly distributed within a sphere the diameter of the TDLU or HELU. Typical HELUs measure between 1 and 4 mm in diameter, and so the magnitude of the hyperplasia may be somewhat smaller or larger than shown in this example, depending on the size. HELU, hyperplastic enlarged lobular unit; TDLU, terminal duct lobular unit.

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