CORRELATION OF BIOPSY AND AgNOR COUNTS IN PREMALIGNANT AND MALIGNANT LESIONS OF CERVIX

Background- Cervical cancer is the commonest cancer among women in developing countries. Screening methods like cervical cytology has brought down the incidence of cervical cancer. AgNOR represents Nucleolar organizer regions stained with silver and are related to cell proliferation rate and tumor malignant potential. The present study was aimed at evaluating the diagnostic role of AgNOR in cervical carcinogenesis. Material and Methods- The present study was conducted in the Pathology department of Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior from January 2019 to May 2020 on 500 patients who attended the Gynae OPD. Women of suspected cervical pathology and who underwent Pap smear test followed by subsequent biopsies were included. Results- AgNOR count in chronic cervicitis was 2.72±0.32, in CIN I was 4.02±0.38, in CIN II was 5.47±0.21 in CIN III was 5.59±0.18, in Well differentiated KSCC was 6.48±0.40 and in adenocarcinoma was 6.93±0.21. The study showed that the mean AgNOR count per nucleus was signicantly higher in CIN and malignant cervical lesions. Conclusion- AgNOR count is reproducible, simple, efcient and inexpensive method which can be used as an adjunct to histopathology and cytology especially in differentiating doubtful cases of CIN.

Study of AgNOR count and SAPA score in fine needle aspirates of breast lumps

Background: Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region technique has a potential value in the diagnosis of malignancy and can be used in cases with equivocal and inconclusive cytological picture. The purpose of this study was to evaluate mean Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region count and Subjective Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region Pattern Assessment score in fi ne needle aspirates of breast lumps. Materials and Methods: A prospective, cross sectional study consisting of 110 patients (38 malignant and 72 benign) with clinically palpable breast lumps who underwent fi ne needle aspiration followed by subsequent histopathologic examination were included. Fine Needle Aspiration smears were studied by conventional methods and silver staining for Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions. Histopathologic diagnosis was taken as the gold standard. Results: Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region count and Subjective Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region Pattern Assessment score were helpful in differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Mean Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region count and Subjective Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region Pattern Assessment score were 2.63 ± 1.36 and 6.26 ± 1.19 respectively in benign lesions while they were 8.42 ± 2.53 and 10.05 ± 2.22 respectively in malignant lesions. With few exceptions, cases with high counts had high scores. Conclusion: Mean Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region AgNOR count and Subjective Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region Pattern Assessment score provide useful information regarding cellular proliferation. Both count and score have comparable diagnostic potential but the latter is a more convenient and rapid method for Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region evaluation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jkmc.v1i1.7248 Journal of Kathmandu Medical College, Vol. 1, No. 1, Issue 1, Jul.-Sep., 2012 pp.3-9