GALLBLADDER CANCER - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY AMONG CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES, AGNORS, AND DNA CONTENT-ANALYSIS

A comparative study among clinicopathologic features, silver-stained n ucleolar organizer region associated proteins (AgNORs), and DNA conten t analysis in 76 patients with gallbladder cancer was performed. The A gNOR count, AgNOR area, and the ratio of AgNOR area to nuclear area we re significantly higher in patients with a low grade of histological d ifferentiation and deep invasion into the gallbladder wall. Moreover, these parameters were higher in cases with lymph node involvement and distant metastases. DNA ploidy pattern and clinicopathologic features showed no statistical significance. Our results demonstrate that AgNOR parameters are useful indicators to evaluate the malignant behavior o f gallbladder cancer. Furthermore, the AgNOR count together with the d epth of the neoplastic invasion and lymph node metastases proved to be independent prognostic factors for survival in patients with gallblad der cancer.