Nucleolar organizer regions [NORs] staining to distinguish benign from malignant thyroid follicular lesions

ABSTRACT

A total of 23 solitary thyroid nodules were analyzed to test the validity of the nucleolar organizer regions [AgNORs] staining in discriminating between benign and malignant thyroid follicular lesions. Cases included 10 follicular adenomas, 3 atypical adenomas and 10 follicular carcinomas. The NORs count in follicular adenomas was significantly [P< 0.05] lower than that in atypical adenomas and follicular carcinomas. There was statistically significant difference in the NORs count between atypical adenomas and follicular carcinoma. It was concluded that nucleolar organizer regions staining is valid in differentiating benign from both atypical adenomatous and malignant follicular lesions