Light micrograph of benign prostate glands with mucinous metaplasia. Metaplasia is a process of transformation of the characteristics of one cell type to those of another cell type. Here, the prostate glands have acquired mucin (which most prostate cells do not have), the pale grey-blue substance in most of the cells towards the centre and bottom parts of the picture. Mucinous metaplasia is completely benign and does not increase the risk for prostate cancer. Haematoxylin and eosin stained tissue section. Magnification: 100x when printed at 10 cm.