title: Correlation between argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) counts and histologic grades with respect to biologic behavior of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.
abstract: The quantification of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) was performed in 34 cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) to determine (1) whether AgNOR count correlates with its different histologic grades pertinent to prognosis, and (2) whether AgNOR counts can offer any additional prognostic advantage over histologic grading. According to Szanto et al.'s histologic grading criteria (4), 12 cases were Grade 1, 7 cases Grade 2, and 15 were Grade 3. Patients were divided into 20 favorable cases (without metastases) and 14 unfavorable cases (with metastases). Although most Grade 3 tumors had high AgNOR counts (> or = 4) and Grade 1 tumors with low (< 4) AgNOR counts outnumbered those with high AgNOR counts, considerable overlap of AgNOR values in different grades was observed. However, all unfavorable cases had high AgNOR counts regardless of their histologic grades, suggesting that the metabolic alterations associated with the malignancy level of ACC may partly be portrayed by the AgNOR count, irrespective of the histologic appearance. Cumulative survival rates of Grade 1 tumors and of tumors with low AgNOR counts were better than those of Grade 3 tumors and those with high AgNOR counts. Within the limited number of cases in this series the AgNOR count exhibits a potential for identifying some aggressive ACCs that cannot be detected by histology alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Japan.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Vuhahula
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nikai
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004396:Coloring Agents; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000473:pathology; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011379:Prognosis; D012468:Salivary Gland Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012470:Salivary Glands, Minor / Q000473:pathology; D012834:Silver; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D012834:Silver