Gallbladder cancer : A comparative study among clinicopathologic features, AgNORs, and DNA content analysis

A comparative study among clinicopathologic features, silver-stained nucleolar organizer region associated proteins (AgNORs), and DNA content analysis in 76 patients with gallbladder cancer was performed. The AgNOR count, AgNOR area, and the ratio of AgNOR area to nuclear area were significantly higher in patients with a low grade of histological differentiation and deep invasion into the gallbladder wall. Moreover, these parameters were higher in cases with lymph node involvement and distant metastases. DNA ploidy pattern and clinicopathologic features showed no statistical significance. Our results demonstrate that AgNOR parameters are useful indicators to evaluate the malignant behavior of gallbladder cancer. Furthermore, the AgNOR count together with the depth of the neoplastic invasion and lymph node metastases proved to be independent prognostic factors for survival in patients with gallbladder cancer.