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Washington University Experience | NEOPLASMS (METASTASES) | Microscopic | 89A1 Metastasis, breast (Case 89) H&E 1

Case 89 History ---- The patient is a 74 year old woman with a metastatic tumor at T2-T3. Operative procedure: Posterior cervical thoracic decompression with fusion. ---- 89A1,2 Sections show a cellular neoplasm composed of fibrovascular bands separating nests and cords of tumor cells that have large nuclei with vesicular chromatin and prominent red nucleoli. The cell membrane is distinct and in many areas a cleft is seen between the nests of tumor cells and the surrounding stroma. In some areas the chromatin is more condensed. Nuclear crowding is frequent. Mitoses are easily found. The tumor is seen to involve the soft tissue and dense collagenous tissue adjacent to the bone. Much of the bone marrow is replaced by fibrosis; however, portions of the marrow space are involved by tumor cells.

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