title: Standardized AgNOR analysis of the invasive tumour front in oral squamous cell carcinomas.
abstract: In the last decade, silver staining of nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins (AgNORs) has been widely used in tumour pathology both for diagnostic and for prognostic purposes. However, a reliable and reproducible assessment of these proteins on routinely processed archival tissues has only become possible since the recent introduction of standardized staining method and computer-aided morphometric analysis. In the present study, the AgNOR content at the invasive front of 80 squamous cell carcinomas of the floor of the mouth/tongue was investigated using this novel approach, with regard to prognosis and a variety of clinico-pathological parameters. All standardized AgNOR parameters [mean of AgNOR number, mean of AgNOR area, coefficients of variation (CV) of both AgNOR number and area] were statistically significantly associated with the clinical course. The strongest correlation was found for the AgNOR-area univariate analysis (P = 0.006). In multivariate analysis, the mean of AgNOR number could independently predict both overall (P = 0.01) and disease-free survival (P = 0.001). It is concluded that standardized staining and computer-aided analysis of AgNORs are prerequisites for an objective and reproducible AgNOR assessment, which has potential as a supplementary diagnostic and prognostic tool in oral cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery, University of Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piffkò
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bànkfalvi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ofner
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rasch
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Joos
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Schmid
mesh_terms: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region; D011379:Prognosis; D016622:Silver Staining; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C051963:nucleolar organizer region associated proteins