THE IMPORTANCE OF NUCLEOLAR ORGANIZER REG ION-ASSOCIATED ACID PROTEINS FOR THE DIFFERENTIATION OF LARYNGEAL DYSPLASIA AND LARYNGEAL CARCINOMA

The grading of laryngeal dysplasia is routinely based on the assessmen t of histological and karyologic properties and therefore may suffer f rom subjective errors. Because of the prognostic relevance of grading, various attempts have been made to overcome subjective misinterpretat ion of quantitative and objective data. Analysis of nucleolar organize r region-associated acid proteins (AgNORs) provides the opportunity fo r an objective assessment of the proliferative activity of cell popula tions. Using an image analysis system, AgNOR features of normal, dyspl astic and neoplastic squamous epithelium of the larynx were investigat ed. With this method reproducible data were available for number, area and distribution of AgNORs and certain relative features. The relatio nship between AgNOR configuration and histopathological grading of lar yngeal dysplasia and carcinoma was investigated. Significant differenc es were found between the groups investigated. A classification of sli ght, moderate and severe dysplasia based exclusively on AgNOR data was not of satisfactory quality.