Nucleolar organizer regions argyrophilic associated proteins in cutaneous melanocytic lesions.

We applied a simple silver staining technique to visualize nucleolar organizer regions associated proteins (AgNORs) for the study of 47 melanocytic lesions (20 malignant melanomas, 5 dysplastic nevi, 4 Spitz nevi, 2 Reed and Gartman's fusiform nevi and 16 melanocytic nevi). A statistically significant difference existed between the numbers of AgNORs per cell in benign and malignant lesions as a group. However, some overlapping counts were found, limiting the usefulness of the technique in differentiating benign from malignant lesions in individual cases.