Abstract
Computer-assisted image analysis was used for quantification of the number and area of silver-positive nucleolar organizer region (Ag-NOR) of cells in the cytological specimens from mastopathy, fibroadenoma and breast cancer. The mean numbers of Ag-NOR in mastopathy (6 cases), fibroadenoma (7 cases) and mammary cancer (7cases) were 1.74±0.69, 1.66±0.77 and 4.20±2.29, respectively and the mean areas (μm2) of Ag-NOR were 3.26±1.79in mastopathy, 3.79±2.20 in fibroadenoma and 12.5±7.10 in cancer. Both the number and area of malignant lesion were significantly greater than those of benign lesions (P<0.05). These results suggest that computer-assisted image analysis of the number and area of Ag-NOR can be used to differentiate malignancy from benign pathological lesions in the breast cytological specimens.
