The amount of AgNOR proteins is correlated with the prognosis of several human neoplasias and is proportional to the proliferative activity of neoplastic cells (Derenzini et al. Cancer J 7, 71-77, 1994). For the last 5 years we have extensively investigated AgNORs in pharyngeal carcinoma, multiple myeloma, thymoma and male breast carcinoma. Here we summarize the results to elucidate the prognostic value of AgNOR counts in these tumours and their correlation with well established indices of cell proliferation. Our results show the high prognostic value of AgNOR enumeration in pharyngeal carcinoma, multiple myeloma, thymoma and male breast cancer. This is further supported by the Cox multivariate analysis indicating AgNOR counts as a significant independent variable. The inverse correlation between AgNORs and the length of survival clearly indicates that tumours with an elevated AgNOR number have a rapidly aggressive course. The combination of AgNOR counts and histologic pattern of the tumour allows to stratify the patients into different risk groups, which could benefit by different therapies. The strong association betwen AgNOR number and cell proliferation indices and tumour DNA content may account for the prognostic significance of AgNOR counts. A few factors, mainly differences in the staining and some subjectivity in the scoring procedures, still interfere with the practical application of AgNOR method in tumour pathology. However, well standardized staining procedures and automate image analysis would greatly improve the reproducibility of the method and favour the diffusion of AgNOR analysis as a useful diagnostic and prognostic tool.
Prognostic value of AgNORs in tumour pathology
PICH, Achille;CHIARLE, Roberto;
1996-01-01
Abstract
The amount of AgNOR proteins is correlated with the prognosis of several human neoplasias and is proportional to the proliferative activity of neoplastic cells (Derenzini et al. Cancer J 7, 71-77, 1994). For the last 5 years we have extensively investigated AgNORs in pharyngeal carcinoma, multiple myeloma, thymoma and male breast carcinoma. Here we summarize the results to elucidate the prognostic value of AgNOR counts in these tumours and their correlation with well established indices of cell proliferation. Our results show the high prognostic value of AgNOR enumeration in pharyngeal carcinoma, multiple myeloma, thymoma and male breast cancer. This is further supported by the Cox multivariate analysis indicating AgNOR counts as a significant independent variable. The inverse correlation between AgNORs and the length of survival clearly indicates that tumours with an elevated AgNOR number have a rapidly aggressive course. The combination of AgNOR counts and histologic pattern of the tumour allows to stratify the patients into different risk groups, which could benefit by different therapies. The strong association betwen AgNOR number and cell proliferation indices and tumour DNA content may account for the prognostic significance of AgNOR counts. A few factors, mainly differences in the staining and some subjectivity in the scoring procedures, still interfere with the practical application of AgNOR method in tumour pathology. However, well standardized staining procedures and automate image analysis would greatly improve the reproducibility of the method and favour the diffusion of AgNOR analysis as a useful diagnostic and prognostic tool.
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