Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions as a prognostic indicator of laryngeal carcinomas

Abstract

Nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) were studied in surgically removed specimens from 76 patients with squamous cell carcinomas of the larynx using an argyrophilic (Ag) staining technique. The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus was 4.3 +/- 1.38 (SD). The mean AgNOR number for T1 or T2 disease was statistically lower than that for T3 or T4 lesions (P < 0.05). The mean AgNOR number was lower in patients with N0 disease than in patients with N1 or N2 or N3 tumors (P < 0.05). There was also a statistically significant difference between the mean AgNOR number for stage II and stage III disease (P < 0.01), for stage III and stage IV disease (P < 0.05), but not for stage I and stage II disease. According to the histological grading, there was a significant difference between the mean AgNOR number for the well-differentiated and moderately differentiated tumors (P < 0.05), and for the moderately differentiated and poorly differentiated types (P < 0.01). These results suggest that the number of AgNORs in the nucleus is a significant indicator of laryngeal carcinomas.

Nucleolar organizer regions and prognosis in glottic squamous cell carcinoma

“…Previous studies concerning the prognostic significance of AgNOR counts in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck are in accordance with our findings and show that high values for mean AgNOR counts concur with poor prognosis. [16][17][18][19][20] Two of these studies 17,19 applied multivariate analysis and both showed that mean AgNOR counts was the strongest single parameter in separating prognostically favorable and unfavorable cases. Contrary to Pich et al 17 and Bochmü hl et al 19 studying pharyngeal and laryngeal carcinomas, we found that T1-T2 carcinomas had significantly lower mean AgNOR counts than did T3-T4 tumors.…”

p53 and bcl-2 expression and argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions in patients with malignant maxillary sinus tumours

“…The structure of NORs can be detected by light microscopy using silver (argyrophilic; Ag) staining (Ploton et al, 1986). The number of NORs (AgNORs) has been reported to correlate with the growth rate of tumours and is considered to be a useful prognostic indicator in laryngeal carcinomas (Nakashima et al, 1994).…”