differen tiation between prostatic' c a rcinoma a nd benign prostatic hyperplasia by agnor staining

thirty cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia and 30 cases of prostatic adenocarcinoma were selected and stained by agnor (argyrophilic staining of the nucleolar organizer region) method. specimens were obtained by either prostatectomy (open!tijr) or needle biopsy of the prostate. in this study, the sections of prostatic adenocarcinoma were reviewed. 6 cases were diagnosed as well-differentiated, 12 cases as moderately-differentiated and 12 cases as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. the method of agnor staining was applied to see if it would be useful in the distinction between benign and malignant lesions. in benign lesions, the mean number of agnor count was 2.5 and in malignant specimens was 7.4. prostatic hyperplasia (benign) specimens showed two or three well-defined nors, but in malignant tumors, there were many irregular small nors. agnor stain can be used for differentiation between benign and malignant lesions of the prostate, but this stain should not be used as a reliable index for grading prostatic adenocarcinoma, because overlapping was seen in some cases.