ARGYROPHILIC NUCLEOLAR ORGANIZER REGIONS STAINING IS USEFUL IN PREDICTING RECURRENCE FREE INTERVAL IN ORAL TONGUE AND FLOOR OF MOUTH SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA

BACKGROUND: Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) represen t a tissue marker of cell proliferative activity. The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of AgNORs expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS: The AgNORs area/nucleus was st udied in paraffin sections by means of digital image analysis in 43 ca ses of stage II oral tongue and floor of the mouth SCC. RESULTS: Time free of disease was considered a dependent variable of a binary indica tor of AgNORs expression (7.77 mu m(2)/nucleus as a cut-off point). Hi gh AgNORs level was associated with a statistically significant negati ve effect on recurrence-free interval of disease in a Cox proportional hazards models controlled for occult lymph node metastasis, involveme nt of the surgical margins, thickness of the lesion, and vascular inva sion. CONCLUSIONS: The AgNORs area increased the capability of predict ing which patients have a high risk of recurrence of cancer, and its e valuation may provide useful information for the therapeutic approach to the oral tongue and floor of the mouth SCC. (C) 1996 by Excerpta Me dica, Inc.