Silver stained nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR’s) in peripheral blood lymphocytes and biopsy specimens of benign and malignant breast tumor cases studied for a possible clinical relevance. Present study attempted to explore the role of number, size and nuclear diameter of AgNOR’s in the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL’s) in addition to the dispersion pattern and nuclear diameter in the biopsy specimens. For staining and destaining, method developed in our lab was used. Progressive increase in mean AgNOR counts in PBL’s of breast cancer sample was found in comparison to benign and control group. In biopsy specimens overall NOR count showed a distinct histological type and stage wise correlation. Majority of the cells exhibited marked dispersion pattern (63.46%), in contrast to the cells from benign and control group which mostly showed simple dispersion pattern (43.5% and 79.7% respectively). Among dispersion pattern, marked dispersion showed a strong stage matched correlation. In benign breast tumor samples AgNOR’s were of medium size and regular shape, while in breast cancer samples they were irregular and small. Thus the results highlight the diagnostic importance of number, shape and the dispersion pattern of AgNOR’s in differentiating benign from malignant breast diseases.
