ductalen

Ductalen is an adjective used in anatomy, histology, and pathology to describe structures, tissues, or processes that pertain to ducts. In English-language medical literature the equivalent term is ductal.

It is applied to describe the lining of ducts (ductal epithelium), duct systems in organs such as the mammary glands, pancreas, biliary tree, kidneys, salivary glands, and lungs. In pathology, ductalen terms are used to distinguish tumors or lesions arising from ductal tissue, for example ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The term does not imply a specific tissue type beyond involvement of a duct lineage and is often used in combination with other descriptors (for example, ductal epithelial, ductal differentiation).

Origin: from Latin ductus "a duct" with the adjectival suffix -al, and it is used across several European languages to form adjectives meaning "relating to ducts."

See also: duct, duct system, ductal carcinoma, ductal epithelium.