Nucleolar organizer regions: a new prognostic factor for upper tract urothelial cancer.

PURPOSE: The prognostic significance of argyrophilic staining in the nucleolar organizer regions was studied in 63 patients with primary urothelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Silver staining of paraffin embedded sections was performed using a 1-step technique.

RESULTS

The prognosis for patients with a mean number of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region proteins per nucleus (argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region score) of 8 or greater was significantly worse than that for patients with a score of less than 8 (P <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region score is a new prognostic factor in primary urothelial tumors of the renal pelvis and ureter, and it is particularly useful for patients with invasive tumors.