Significance of AgNORs Ratio as a Prognostic Factor of Breast Cancer

The numbers and the sizes of Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions (AgNORs) were analysed in 76 cases of mammary invasive ductal carcinoma for the evaluation of biologic behaviour of breast cancer. For the measurement of AgNORs size, a total of AgNORs area per nucleus and the ratio of AgNORs area to the nuclear area were measured by automatic image analyzer as "AgNORs area" and "AgNORs ratio", respectively. Concerning the tumor grade, the mean AgNORs area and ratio were significantly increased in high grade tumor (area: p<0.001, ratio: p < 0.05). A significant increase (p<0.05) of the mean AgNORs ratio was shown in patients with nodal metastasis. The survival time was analysed among four groups separated according to the lymph node status and the mean value of AgNORs amounts. As a result in patients with nodal metastasis, the group that showed high AgNORs ratios of more than the mean value had significantly (p