No previous studies have simultaneously assessed the relationship between AgNORs and PCNA expression in salivary gland tumors. We describe a method to demonstrate both PCNA and AgNORs in the same slice of routinely processed tissue. We also evaluated the effect of microwaving on the AgNORs reaction. Sixteen cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) were selected and the double staining technique was performed in order to quantify the number of AgNORs in PCNA-positive and negative cells. The best results were obtained when AgNOR was performed after the immunostaining. The microwave oven heating improved the AgNORs staining. Our results did not show a statistical difference between the mean number of AgNORs in PCNA-negative and positive cells. There is no association between PCNA and AGNOR in ACC when they are assessed by double-staining.
Adenoid cystic carcinoma; AgNOR; PCNA; Double staining; Quantification
