Evaluation of silver[AgNOR] technique as a rapid method for histopathological diagnosis on whole cell preparations in some fresh operative specimens

The silver [AgNOR] staining technique for nucleolar organizer regions was applied to both whole cell preparations [cell imprint and needle aspiration smear] and to paraffin wax sections of 24 fresh operative specimens [6 reactive, lymph nodes, 6 lymph node metastasis, 6 cancer breast, 6 cancer colon]. The mean [AgNOR] count per nucleus was higher in whole cell preparations than in paraffin wax sections for each specimens. Furthermore, AgNOR dots were much more easily distinguished and enumerated in the whole cell preparation than in sections. The mean [AgNOR] count was significantly higher in malignant [7.6] than in reactive lesions [1.3] [P <0.001]. Also, the mean AgNOR count was significantly higher in lymph node metastasis [mean 4.4] than in reactive lymph node lesions [mean 1.3] [P <0.001]. So, the silver [AgNOR] staining technique appears to be the method of choice. It is simple, rapid and can readily be performed to differentiate between benign, reactive and malignant lesions on whole cell preparation either by cell imprinting or by aspiration smear