Quantification of DNA and AgNORs

Assessment of cell proliferation through the evaluation of cyclin D1, AgNORs, and DNA content provides a promising approach to the prognosis of breast cancer. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of AgNORs and DNA image cytometry, and their relation to cyclin D1 immunoreactivity in breast cancer. This study was carried out on 50 prospective biopsies taken from patients with breast tumor. They were divided into control (10 cases) and benign (10 cases) as well as malignant (30 cases) groups. Computer-assisted image analysis cytometry is applied to evaluate the count of positive reactions of AgNORs and cyclin D1, and an integrated optical density (IOD) technique is used to quantify DNA content in the tissues stained by Feulgen stain and to assess the density of cyclin D1 immunoreactivity.