title: AgNOR counts in preneoplastic lesions of the bronchus.
abstract: Silver staining of argyrophil nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) has become a valuable method to assess cell kinetics in paraffin sections and separate benign from malignant lesions. As a putative technique for the distinction between regenerative and preneoplastic alterations of the bronchial mucosa we employed the Ag-staining method, evaluating the number of dots/nucleus and shape of the dots. Dots/nucleus were counted by by standardized methods, and mean and standard deviation were calculated. Comparative investigations were performed in bioptically obtained specimens of normal bronchial epithelium (1.94 +/- 0.1 dots/nucleus, n = 12), basal cell hyperplasia (2.22 +/- 0.13 dots/nucleus, n = 15), goblet cell hyperplasia (2.38 +/- 0.16 dots/nucleus, n = 17), squamous cell metaplasia (2.58 +/- 0.17 dots/nucleus, n = 25), squamous cell metaplasia with mild and moderate dysplasia (2.50 +/- 0.5 dots/nucleus, n = 15), squamous cell metaplasia with severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ (3.10 +/- 0.47 dots/nucleus, n = 17), micropapillomatosis (2.20 +/- 0.21 dots/nucleus, n = 13) and early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus (4.40 +/- 0.74, n = 13). In preneoplastic lesions a variability in form and size of the dots was found. Though showing an increase in the number of dots/nucleus coincidentally with the degree of proliferative activity, the AgNOR method cannot be considered as a statistically significant tool in the evaluation of regenerative and preneoplastic lesions in bioptically obtained specimens.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Kliniken, Bergmannsheil, Bochum-University Clinic, FRG.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fisseler-Eckhoff
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sudhoff
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D001980:Bronchi / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001984:Bronchial Neoplasms / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000473:pathology; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016622:Silver Staining / Q000379:methods