ACTIVITY SATELLITE ASSOCIATION AND POLYMORPHISM OF AG STAINED NUCLEOLUS ORGANIZER REGIONS (AG-CANCER( NORS) IN LYMPHOCYTES FROM WOMEN WITH CERVICAL UTERINE)

Thirty five female patients with different stages of neoplastic lesion s: cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (GIN) or dysplasia (GIN I and CI N II), in situ carcinoma (CIS), and adenocarcinoma, and 27 healthy wom en (controls) were studied to determine the activity, satellite associ ation, and polymorphism of Ag stained nucleolus organizer regions (Ag( +)NORs) in acrocentric chromosomes in metaphases obtained from periphe ral blood lymphocytes. For each person, 25 to 50 metaphases stained wi th ammoniacal silver technique were scored, The average number of AgNORs was higher in women with adenocarcinoma (7.66 +/- 0.72) than in c ontrols (6.65 +/- 0.74). Nonassociated chromosomes showing Ag+ NORs we re found more frequently in patients (5.85 +/- 0.88) than in controls (4.81 +/- 0.67). Patients aged 30-39 and 60 or more had an increase of Ag+ NORs (7.99 +/- 1.04, and 7.81 +/- 0.71) with respect to their con trols (6.36 +/- 0.052 and 6.17 +/- 0.88), but the frequency of satelli te association showed lower values in 50 - 59 year-old patients (0.75 +/- 0.08) than in controls (1.02 +/- 0.19). The most frequent associat ion in patients was the large type (patients = 38.96%, controls = 30.4 9%). The partial association showed higher values (6.49%) than control s (2.44%). Otherwise, the spherical association was more frequent for controls (37.80%) than for patients (28.57%). All these differences we re statistically significant (p <0.05). The frequency of Ag+ NORs and the type of polymorphism of satellite association could be related to the neoplastic process, while the frequency of satellite association a nd of polymorphism of Ag+ NORs seems to be irrelevant.