Prognostic potential of AgNORs in oral submucous fibrosis

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: The role of prognosis cannot be stressed enough, especially when it comes to potentially malignant lesions. The argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs), which is simple and cost-effective has been used in diagnostic and prognostic pathologies. This study seeks to identify the nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) in oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF), to correlate the AgNOR count with the histologic grade of OSMF, and to evaluate the prognostic potential of AgNOR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample size consisted of archival paraffin blocks of 35 cases of varying grades of OSMF and 10 cases of squamous cell carcinoma. Normal mucosa samples served as controls for the study. AgNOR staining in accordance with the method of Smith and Crocker was performed and Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The results showed an increase in AgNOR counts with corresponding grades of OSMF, the count being least in normal mucosa and also an increase in AgNOR count with corresponding decrease in differentiation of oral squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSION: AgNOR staining is a rapid and inexpensive procedure representing cellular proliferation that can be used to assess the nature of the lesion and therefore, the prognosis.