Prognostic factors for survival after enucleation for choroidal melanoma.

The AgNOR Quantity as Prognostic Parameter in Choroidal Melanomas: A Standardised Analysis

“…Nevertheless, the best objective method for estimating the malignant potential of uveal melanomas has been considered the computerised cytomorphometric evaluation of nucleolar area, when combined with measurement of largest tumour diameter [10]. In previous studies concerning conjunctival and uveal melanomas, the proliferation rate has been assessed by the silver staining of the nucleolar organizer regions [14,29]; nevertheless in these studies, by a not standardised and time consuming procedure, AgNORs have been counted in one-hundred cells per specimen, while no informations about the area of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions have been furnished [3,14,29]. More recently, two papers coming from the same south area of Italy have been performed on uveal melanomas, utilizing a different manner of AgNOR determination as well as different morphometric parameters and reaching dissonant conclusions [3,30].…”

“…In previous studies concerning conjunctival and uveal melanomas, the proliferation rate has been assessed by the silver staining of the nucleolar organizer regions [14,29]; nevertheless in these studies, by a not standardised and time consuming procedure, AgNORs have been counted in one-hundred cells per specimen, while no informations about the area of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions have been furnished [3,14,29]. More recently, two papers coming from the same south area of Italy have been performed on uveal melanomas, utilizing a different manner of AgNOR determination as well as different morphometric parameters and reaching dissonant conclusions [3,30]. In detail, the multivariate analysis didn't provide any additional information about prognosis, although patients having a high AgNOR count had a worse survival [3]; on the other hand, patients with the highest values of AgNOR mean area showed poorer clinical behaviour, even if no correlation was found between AgNORs and largest tumour dimensions [30].…”

“…More recently, two papers coming from the same south area of Italy have been performed on uveal melanomas, utilizing a different manner of AgNOR determination as well as different morphometric parameters and reaching dissonant conclusions [3,30]. In detail, the multivariate analysis didn't provide any additional information about prognosis, although patients having a high AgNOR count had a worse survival [3]; on the other hand, patients with the highest values of AgNOR mean area showed poorer clinical behaviour, even if no correlation was found between AgNORs and largest tumour dimensions [30]. Therefore, on the light of these reports, we have considered the contribute of the Ag-NOR technique remains to be definitively determined in order to provide additional prognostic informations in this field of ocular pathology.…”

“…In particular, an evident increase of mean AgNOR value has been reported in conjunctival squamous carcinomas in comparison with hyperplastic-dysplastic lesions [18], while malignant uveal and conjunctival melanomas showed higher mean AgNOR counts than benign nevi or primary acquired melanosis [14,29]; nevertheless, the intervening "grey" zone of overlap between Ag-NOR values in cases of benign and malignant ocular neoplasms limited the extensive application of AgNOR technique in diagnostic histopathology. Recently, conflicting papers have proposed the AgNOR technique as a tool to evaluate the prognosis of uveal melanomas [3,30], although numerical and morphometric AgNOR parameters utilized were not comparable and standardised [3,30]; therefore, in the present study, we have utilised for the first time the standardised procedure proposed by the European Committee on AgNOR Quantification [22] in order to assess the prognostic value of nucleolar silver stained proteins in these tumours.…”

Evaluation of The Cytotoxicity, Cell Cycle Perturbations and Apoptotic Induction in Human Normal and Cancer Liver Cell Lines Exposed to Potassium Nitrate and Sodium Benzoate

“…The down-regulation of DNA repair genes may indicate that potassium nitrate act as mutagens with the potential to induce cancer (Bharadwaj et al, 2005). It was also found to initiate up-regulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) levels which are associated with the progression of cancer and high levels are detected in numerous malignant cancers such as lymphomas (Takahashi et al, 1997) and breast cancer (Baldi et al, 1998).…”