편평세포폐암에서 Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions(AgNORs)의 임상적의의

Clinical Significance of Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions(AgNORs) In Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

연구배경: 세포의 증식능력을 반영한다고 알려진 NORs를 간편한 은염색으로 발현시켜서 AgNORs 수가 정상조직과 종양조직의 비교감별과 종양의 증식능력판단에 유용한지를 알기위하여 파라핀 포매된 편평세포폐암 조직을 이용하여 본 연구를 시행하였다. 방법: 수술로써 절제한 파라핀 포매된 편평세포폐암 조직 36예를 Mourad 등의 방법으로 은염색하였다. 1,000 배 배율하에서 종양조직과 정상조직에서 임의로 100 개씩 세포를 선정해서 핵당 평균 AgNORs수를 구하였다. 결과: 종양조직에서 TNM병기에 따른 핵당 평균 AgNORs수는 유의한 차이가 없었으나 정상조직과 종양조직을 비교허여 정상조직에서는 $1.74{\pm}0.25$, 종양 조직에서는 $4.05{\pm}0.80$으로 종양조직의 핵당 평균 AgNORs수가 정상조직에 비해서 유의하게 높았다(p<0.001). 결론: TNM분류에 따른 각 병기별 종양조직과 인접 정상조직의 핵당 평균 AgNORs수를 비교하여도 각 병기에서 종양조직의 평균 AgNORs수가 정상조직에 비하여 유의하게 높았다(p<0.005).

Background: Nucleolar organizer regions(NORs) are chromosomal segments encoding for ribosomal RNA and associated with argyrophilic nonhistone protein. Ribosomal RNA genes ultimately direct ribosome and protein synthesis, and it has been suggested the numbers of NORs detected in the cell may reflect nuclear and cellular activity. This study was performed to evaluate the applicability of AgNORs to the diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Method: The one step silver methods(AgNORs) was used to stain NORs in the routinely processed, formalin fixed, paraffin embedded sections of 36 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the lung obtained by surgical resection of primary tumor. In each specimen, 100 tumor cells and 100 normal cells adjacent to the tumor chosen at random were examined under an oil immersion lens at a magnification of ${\times}1000$. The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus was calculated for each specimen. Results: The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus(mAgNORs) of normal bronchial epithelium and squamous cell carcinoma of the lung was $1.74{\pm}0.25$ and $4.05{\pm}0.80$, respectively. The difference of mAgNOR between normal and tumor tissue was statistically significant(p<0.001). There was no statistical difference among tumors of different stages. The difference of mAgNOR between normal and tumor tissue was statistically significant in each TNM stage(p<0.05). Conclusion: Mean AgNOR count may be used as a useful marker for the differential diagnosis of benignancy and malignancy, and proliferative activity of the cell in squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. But there was no statistical difference in mean AgNOR count among tumors of different surgical stages. Further studies for the application of mAgNORs to the diagnosis of other histologic types and cytologic specimens of the lung cancer are needed.