title: The argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (Ag-NOR) score in invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas.
abstract: The biological malignancy of pancreatic carcinoma was evaluated by determining the score of the argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (Ag-NOR) in resected specimens, and comparing it with the various clinicopathological factors and long-term results of 38 patients who underwent surgical resection for invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas between 1977 and 1992, in whom the Ag-NOR could be stained. The Ag-NOR analysis of pancreatic carcinomas from the 38 patients resulted in a mean Ag-NOR score of 3.82 +/- 0.62, which was significantly (P < 0.01) higher than the mean score of 1.72 +/- 0.28 observed in normal pancreatic tissues obtained from 20 of these patients. The mean Ag-NOR score significantly increased in patients with anterior capsular infiltration (s) (P < 0.01), posterior tissue infiltration (rp) (P < 0.01), and lymph node metastasis (n) (P < 0.05) compared to those without these factors. The rate of curability A or B was only 13.0% in patients with a high Ag-NOR score of > or = 3.80 in comparison to 66.7% in those with a low Ag-NOR score of < 3.80. The 3-year survival rate was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the low Ag-NOR score group than in the high Ag-NOR score group. These results suggest that the Ag-NOR score can serve as an indicator of the biological malignancy of pancreatic carcinoma, and of the patients' prognosis.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toyota
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katano
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizusawa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hamazoe
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kaibara
mesh_terms: D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000473:pathology*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D016622:Silver Staining; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal