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Nucleolar organizer regions and post–operative survival in glioblastoma multiforme
Author(s) -
NICOLL J. A. R.,
CANDY E.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.538
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1365-2990
pISSN - 0305-1846
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2990.1991.tb00689.x
Subject(s) - nucleolus organizer region , glioblastoma , pathology , medicine , mitotic index , nucleolar organizer region , overall survival , survival rate , biology , mitosis , gastroenterology , nucleus , cancer research , nucleolus , psychiatry , microbiology and biotechnology
Counts of argyrophil nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) have been proposed as a method of assessing tumour growth rate. AgNOR counts have been shown to correlate with histological grade in glial and some non–glial tumours but few studies have included data relating to clinical outcome. We have examined the relationship between tumour AgNOR counts and postoperative survival in a retrospective study of 54 patients with glioblastoma multiforme. The mean number of AgNORs per nucleus varied from 1.7 to 10.8 in biopsies from different patients and correlated with mitotic rate (P < 0.01) but not with post–operative survival, which ranged from 2 days to 54 months with four patients still alive. AgNOR counts were inversely related to patient age (P < 0.01) and older patients tended to survive for shorter periods (P < 0.05). Although AgNOR counts are related to the rate of tumour cell division, they are not useful for predicting the post–operative survival of patients with glioblastoma multiforme.