Figure 2.

Examples of traditional architectural (top row) and nuclear grade (bottom row) pathological features of DCIS lesions. Traditional pathological descriptors including cribriform (A), micropapillary (B), and comedo (C) are now less commonly utilized. Instead, most pathologists classify the nuclear grade of DCIS as low (D), intermediate (E), or high (F), and they comment on the presence of comedonecrosis (short arrow), microcalcifications (long arrows), and ER immunoreactivity. Low-grade DCIS (D) has small and monotonous cells with well-defined cell membranes, inconspicuous nucleoli, and sparse mitotic activity. Intermediate-grade DCIS (E) has cells with cytomorphologic features that are in between the low- and high-grade categories. High-grade DCIS (F) has large and pleomorphic cells with prominent nucleoli and numerous mitotic figures.