Angiogenesis is a key factor of tumor progression. Considering, that the tumor vessels are heterogeneous and differ in morphology and clinical significance, the purpose of this research was to study of the morphological features of tumor vessels and their relationship with the clinical characteristics and morphological features of breast cancer (BC). In this pilot study the tumor samples received from 59 patients with T1–T2 stages of ductal invasive carcinomas were included. The sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemically using antibodies to CD34. The morphological features and the number of different types of tumor vessels were assessed microscopically and were compared with grade, lymph node metastasis, hormone receptors, HER2/neu status and with the presence of tumor emboli in vessels (lymphovascular invasion). We identified the following types of tumor vessels in BC: the normal microvessels, the dilated capillaries of peritumoral stroma, the atypical dilated capillaries and the “cavitary” structures (CS) type-1 and type-2 relating to the “cavitary” type of angiogenesis that was described by us earlier. The number of dilated capillaries correlated with CS type-1 (p = 0.003), CS type-2 (p = 0.002), atypical dilated capillaries (p = 0.0008) and with lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.005); the presence of atypical dilated capillaries—with CS type-1 (p < 0.00001), CS type-2 (p = 0.00004), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.0002) and with the tumor grade (p = 0.003); the number of CS type-1—with estrogen receptor (p = 0.002) and progesterone receptor (p = 0.002) status and with lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.004); the presence of CS type-2—with positive Her2/new status (p = 0.0002) and lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.01). The density of normal microvessels was not associated with other types of tumor vessels and with clinical characteristics of BC. These data indicate that varied types of tumor vessels are associated with different morphological characteristics of BC, such as hormone receptors and HER2/neu status, lymphovascular invasion. We believe that the atypical dilated capillaries are related to the “cavitary” type of angiogenesis. The strong correlations of lymphovascular invasion with CS type-1 and atypical dilated capillaries testify that the “cavitary” type of angiogenesis may play a significant role in the formation of tumor emboli in the vessels.

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This review summarizes the data available in the literature on the development, structure, and function of telocytes (TCs) and their role in the heart in health and diseases. At the present time, TCs have been found in many organs of mammals and humans. TC is a small oval cell that contains a nucleus surrounded by small amounts of cytoplasm, with extremely long and thin processes named telopodias. TCs have unique ultrastructural and immunohistochemical features; double positive labeling for CD34/PDGFR-β and CD34/vimentin is suitable for their identification. The role of TCs in the heart at different study stages is the subject of debate. There are currently available data on a decline in the number of cardiac TCs in patients with various heart diseases. Relying on a number of investigations showing that TCs are present in the subepicardial stem cell niches, the authors consider a hypothesis for the key role of cardiac TCs in the regeneration and reparation of the heart.