Medullary carcinomas - Figure 3 . Cytological variants of medullary carcinoma.

The distinction betweeen various subtypes of medullary carcinoma has very limited significance in the diagnosis while it makes clear the problems of differential diagnostics. The cells of the most frequent subtype, the lymphoplasmacytoid variant and that of the small cell variant are similar to oxyphilic cells, while the other two subtypes may mimic anaplastic carcinoma.