Salivary gland tumors studied by means of the AgNOR technique

Silver-binding nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) were counted in sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 14 benign and 17 malignant tumors of minor salivary glands. The difference in the mean number of AgNORs count per nucleus between benign and malignant tumors was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). A positive correlation between the AgNORs count and the degree of malignancy of the malignant salivary gland tumors was generally observed. The AgNORs technique can be used as a diagnostic aid in differentiating between benign and malignant salivary gland tumors, and possibly the salivary duct carcinoma from the acinic cell carcinoma and poorly differentiated mucoepidermoid carcinoma.