MUC5AC and skin basal cell carcinoma: As illustrated in the third row of Fig. 6, our virtual staining results showed strong concordance of features of BCC when compared to these acetic acid-stained ground truth images; common histological features of BCC, including islands of basaloid cells with small, peripherally palisaded nuclei and dark silhouettes42,43, a material resembling mucin within the basaloid islands, and separation (retraction) of basaloid islands from the surrounding stroma were visible in the virtually stained RCM images containing BCC as shown in Fig. 6, third row.