Abstract | BACKGROUND: Apart from a number of cases of inaccurate prognosis in regard to individual patients, the inter- and intra-observer variability of the classical, histological prognosis parameters have been under repeated discussion. For this reason, a long-term analysis was carried out in regard to overall survival by means of automated microscopic image analysis of the nucleolar organizer regions ( AgNORs) to objectify tumour grading in the case of breast carcinoma.This consists of a selective representation of argyrophilic proteins that are associated with the nucleolus organising regions. METHODS: The evaluation included 244 female patients with an average age of 59.3 years. The characterisation of the histological sections was carried out on the basis of the AMBA/R system. With this software the histometric characterisation level was evaluated in terms of the nucleolus organizer regions. The post-observation data were obtained from the clinical register and were complemented by mortality data from the cancer registers and by data supplied by the residents' registration office of Berlin. RESULTS: The average post-observation period was 106.6 months. With the Cox-Regression the influence of the co-variables (conventional prognosis parameters and AgNOR parameters) were examined. In the model, only the parameters pN, G and various AgNOR parameters remain present. CONCLUSION: There is a strong correlation between survival and selected AgNOR parameters. These could replace the conventional grading as the standard measure for the mitosis rate together with the pleomorphism level. Instead of the-time consuming AMBA/R system originally used, a new implementation of AgNOR quantification with modern VM systems could be applied. VIRTUAL SLIDES: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1449591192859058.
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Authors | Klaus-Jürgen Winzer, Joachim Bellach, Peter Hufnagl |
Journal | Diagnostic pathology
(Diagn Pathol)
Vol. 8
Pg. 56
(Apr 08 2013)
ISSN: 1746-1596 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 23566354
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
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Chemical References |
- Antigens, Nuclear
- Biomarkers, Tumor
- nucleolar organizer region associated proteins
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Topics |
- Adult
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Antigens, Nuclear
(analysis)
- Automation, Laboratory
- Biomarkers, Tumor
(analysis)
- Breast Neoplasms
(chemistry, mortality, pathology, therapy)
- Carcinoma
(chemistry, mortality, pathology, therapy)
- Female
- Germany
- Humans
- Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
- Microscopy
(methods)
- Middle Aged
- Neoplasm Grading
(methods)
- Nucleolus Organizer Region
(chemistry, pathology)
- Predictive Value of Tests
- Prognosis
- Proportional Hazards Models
- Registries
- Regression Analysis
- Reproducibility of Results
- Software
- Time Factors
- Young Adult
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