Exfoliative cytology as a tool for monitoring pre-malignant and malignant lesions based on combined stains and morphometry techniques

• Published in: Journal of oral pathology & medicine 2015-03, Vol.44 (3), p.178-184
• Main Authors: Gonzalez Segura, Ignacio, Secchi, Dante, Carrica, Andres, Barello, Rosario, Arbelo, Dario, Burgos, Adriana, Brunotto, Mabel, Zarate, Ana M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; AgNOR; Antigens, Nuclear - ultrastructure; Area Under Curve; cancer; Cell Nucleus - ultrastructure; Coloring Agents; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cytodiagnosis - methods; Cytodiagnosis - statistics & numerical data; cytology; Cytoplasm - ultrastructure; Dentistry; Early Detection of Cancer - methods; Early Detection of Cancer - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Leukoplakia, Oral - diagnosis; Leukoplakia, Oral - pathology; Lichen Planus, Oral - diagnosis; Lichen Planus, Oral - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - pathology; Nucleolus Organizer Region - ultrastructure; oral; Papanicolaou Test - statistics & numerical data; papanicolau; Precancerous Conditions - pathology; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Silver Staining - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0904-2512; 1600-0714
• DOI: 10.1111/jop.12219

Background Prevention and early diagnosis have the greatest potential for public health and are the most effective method in the long‐term to control oral cancer. The aim was to apply PAP staining together with AgNOR staining and morphometric analysis in oral exfoliative cytology, to determine the sensitivity and specificity of these methods in the detection of malignant changes for the purposes of both initial population monitoring and follow‐up. Methods AgNOR, Papanicolau, and morphometric tests were conducted in samples of patients with oral cancer, oral potentially malignant disorders and controls (opposite side of lesions). Specificity and sensitivity values for each stain method and the curve under ROC area were estimated. Results The diagnostic variables which allowed greatest accuracy in identifying malignancy relative to the healthy control were cluster (76.92%), satellite (75.64%), and total (90%). The diagnosis was seen to be associated with PAP and total AgNOR, total AgNOR and PAP, total AgNOR and satellites and clusters, and total AgNOR nuclear area/cytoplasmic area ratio. Conclusions The total number of AgNOR is a reliable marker for detecting neoplastic cells; this method increases sensitivity and specificity by decreasing the likelihood of false negatives or positives, as the accuracy obtained was 90%. It is also a low‐cost, non‐invasive, simple methodology that can be recommended to help the early detection of oral cancer and monitoring of patients with a first diagnosis of cancer.