Apocrine () is a term used to classify the mode of

secretion Secretion is the movement of material from one point to another, such as a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast, excretion is the removal of certain substances or waste products from a cell or organism. The classical mec ...

exocrine glands Exocrine glands are glands that secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, prostate and mucous. Exocrine glands are one of ...

. In apocrine secretion, secretory cells accumulate material at their apical ends, often forming blebs or "snouts", and this material then buds off from the cells, forming extracellular

vesicle Vesicle may refer to: ; In cellular biology or chemistry * Vesicle (biology and chemistry), a supramolecular assembly of lipid molecules, like a cell membrane * Synaptic vesicle ; In human embryology * Vesicle (embryology), bulge-like features ...

s. The secretory cells therefore lose part of their

cytoplasm The cytoplasm describes all the material within a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, including the organelles and excluding the nucleus in eukaryotic cells. The material inside the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell a ...

in the process of secretion. An example of true apocrine glands is the

mammary gland A mammary gland is an exocrine gland that produces milk in humans and other mammals. Mammals get their name from the Latin word ''mamma'', "breast". The mammary glands are arranged in organs such as the breasts in primates (for example, human ...

s, responsible for secreting breast milk. Apocrine glands are also found in the anogenital region and

axilla The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm a ...

e. Apocrine secretion is less damaging to the gland than holocrine secretion (which destroys a cell) but more damaging than merocrine secretion (

exocytosis Exocytosis is a term for the active transport process that transports large molecules from cell to the extracellular area. Hormones, proteins and neurotransmitters are examples of large molecules that can be transported out of the cell. Exocytosis ...

). File:405 Modes of Secretion by Glands Apocrine.png, Apocrine secretion Image:Apocrine.jpg, Apocrine gland File:Histology of apocrine cells.png, Histology of apocrine cells, H&E stain.

Apocrine metaplasia

Apocrine metaplasia is a reversible transformation (

metaplasia Metaplasia () is the transformation of a cell type to another cell type. The change from one type of cell to another may be part of a normal maturation process, or caused by some sort of abnormal stimulus. In simplistic terms, it is as if the ...

) of cells to an apocrine

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

. It is common in the breast in the context of fibrocystic change. It is seen in women mostly over the age of 50 years. Metaplasia happens when there is an irritation to the breast (breast cyst). Apocrine-like cells form in a lining of developing microcysts, due to the pressure buildup within the lumen. The pressure build up is caused by secretions. This type of metaplasia represents an exception to the common rule of metaplasia increasing the risk for developing cancer in that apocrine metaplasia doesn't increase the possibility of developing breast cancer. Metaplastic apocrine cells belong to the category of

oncocytes An oncocyte is an epithelial cell characterized by an excessive number of mitochondria, resulting in an abundant acidophilic, granular cytoplasm. Oncocytes can be benign or malignant. Other names Also known as: *''Hürthle cell'' (thyroid glan ...

, which are a group characterized by abundant

acidophilic Acidophiles or acidophilic organisms are those that thrive under highly acidic conditions (usually at pH 5.0 or below). These organisms can be found in different branches of the tree of life, including Archaea, Bacteria,Becker, A.Types of Bacteri ...

, granular cytoplasm (from the Greek root onco-, which means mass, bulk).

Apocrine ductal carcinoma ''in situ''

Apocrine ductal carcinoma ''in situ'' (ACDIS) is a very rare breast carcinoma which is regarded as a variant of the

ductal carcinoma in situ Ductal carcinoma ''in situ'' (DCIS), also known as intraductal carcinoma, is a pre-cancerous or non-invasive cancerous lesion of the breast. DCIS is classified as Breast cancer classification#Stage, Stage 0. It rarely produces symptoms or a ...

breast tumors. ACDIS tumors have microscopic

histopathology Histopathology (compound of three Greek words: 'tissue', 'suffering', and '' -logia'' 'study of') is the microscopic examination of tissue in order to study the manifestations of disease. Specifically, in clinical medicine, histopatholog ...

features that are similar to

pure apocrine carcinoma of the breast Pure apocrine carcinoma of the breast (PACB) is a rare carcinoma derived from the epithelium, epithelial cells in the lactiferous ducts of the mammary gland. The mammary gland is an apocrine gland. Its lactiferous ducts have two layers of epitheli ...

tumors but differ from them in that they are completely localized, i.e. have not invaded nearby tissues or metastasized to distant tissues.

Apocrine carcinoma

''Apocrine

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesoder ...

'' is a very rare form of female breast cancer. The rate of incidence varies from 0.5 to 4%. Cytologically, the cells of apocrine carcinoma are relatively large, granular, and it has a prominent

eosinophilic Eosinophilic (Greek suffix '' -phil'', meaning ''eosin-loving'') describes the staining of tissues, cells, or organelles after they have been washed with eosin, a dye commonly used in histological staining. Eosin is an acidic dye for stainin ...

cytoplasm. When apocrine carcinoma is tested as a “triple negative", it means that the cells of the patient cannot express the

estrogen receptor Estrogen receptors (ERs) are proteins found in cell (biology), cells that function as receptor (biochemistry), receptors for the hormone estrogen (17β-estradiol). There are two main classes of ERs. The first includes the intracellular estrogen ...

progesterone receptor The progesterone receptor (PR), also known as NR3C3 or nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 3, is a protein found inside cells. It is activated by the steroid hormone progesterone. In humans, PR is encoded by a single ''PGR'' gene resi ...

, or

HER2 Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2 is a protein that normally resides in the membranes of cells and is encoded by the ''ERBB2'' gene. ERBB is abbreviated from erythroblastic oncogene B, a gene originally isolated from the avian genome. The ...

receptor.

References

External links

Diagram at uwa.edu.au
{{Glands Exocrine system