Comparison of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and mitotic index in distinguishing benign from malignant canine smooth muscle tumors and in separating inflammatory hyperplasia from neoplastic lesions of the urinary bladder mucosa

Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, University of Missouri, Columbia 65205, USA.

Staining for argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) has proven useful in differentiating recurrent or malignant neoplasms from less aggressive or benign ones. We applied this stain to benign and malignant smooth muscle tumors and to hyperplastic and carcinomatous lesions in the urinary bladder of dogs in an effort to determine its utility in diagnostic situations. The stain was simply performed, and the results were repeatable for different staining intervals and between staining batches. For smooth muscle tumors, enumeration of AgNORs in 100 nuclei was about as efficient as mitotic index in correctly categorizing histologically benign and malignant neoplasms. The mean number of AgNORs/100 nuclei for leiomyomas was significantly less than that obtained for leiomyosarcomas and significantly greater than that obtained for normal smooth muscle. Counts for smooth muscle tumors correlated with the mitotic indexes. Counts by an individual observer were repeated without introducing significant variation, but there was variability between observers, particularly in AgNOR counts for leiomyosarcomas. AgNORs were not useful in separating hyperplastic or polypoid cystitis from transitional cell carcinoma, misclassifying both. Mean AgNOR counts for these 2 conditions did not differ at the 5% level of significance; mitotic index was more efficient at separating the 2 conditions. There was no correlation between mitotic index and AgNOR in urinary tract mucosal specimens. This easily prepared stain may be useful in separating benign and malignant smooth muscle tumors, although AgNORs were less contributory to diagnosing mucosal lesions of the urinary bladder of dogs.