Morphometric evaluation of AgNORs can help in identifying incipient cellular alterations in clinically normal-appearing oral mucosa adjacent to oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: The value of silver staining of nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) counts as a diagnostic aid and has been reported in several neoplastic entities. Previous studies have proven the value of the morphometric evaluation of AgNOR in the detection of incipient cellular alterations. Materials and Methods: Computer-assisted morphometric analysis of AgNORs was performed in normal oral mucosa and mucosa adjacent to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Morphometric values were compared between the study groups. Descriptive data were presented as mean ± SD; Student t-test was used for assessing the possible significant difference between the study groups. Results: The results of the present study showed a significant difference in all the four AgNOR-related parameters from epithelium adjacent to OSCC compared to the normal oral mucosa. Conclusion: The nucleolar organizing region (NOR)-related parameters assessed are biologically informative and easy to monitor routinely at a pathology laboratory. Further, AgNORs provide valuable data by which we can study the spectrum of nuclear changes in malignant and premalignant lesions.