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- Volume 11 (1992)
- Number 2 - Dec. 1992
- Morphometric study on AgNORs of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and paraneoplastic epithelial cells
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Morphometric study on AgNORs of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and paraneoplastic epithelial cells
Abstract
The nuclei and the silver-stained nucleolar organizer region-associated proteins (AgNORs) in the normal, the dysplastic and the cancer cells of 38 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were measured by an image analysis system. The results were shown as follow: (1) The nuclear area and the AgNOR counts in the normal cells were similar to those in the dysplastic cells (P>0.5); both variables of the above cells were significantly lower than those in cancer cells (P<0.05). (2) The AgNOR area per cell and the AgNOR/nuclear area ratio increased significantly from the normal through the dysplastic to the cancer cells (P<0.005). (3) No significant differences were found in the mean AgNOR dot area and the mean AgNOR dot shape between the dysplastic and the cancer cells (P>0.05), both parameters of the two kinds of cells were significantly higher than those in the normal cells (P<0.05). The authors suggest that the morphometric study of AgNORs may be valuable in further studies on the change of AgNORs during the progression of the esophageal epithelial lesions towards cancer.