Comparing the Efficacy of Leishman-Giemsa Cocktail Stain, Giemsa Stain, and Papanicolaou Stain in Potentially Malignant Oral Lesions: A Study on 540 Cytological Samples.

BACKGROUND

This study was planned to compare and evaluate the staining efficacy of Leishman-Giemsa cocktail (LG), Papanicolaou, and Giemsa stain (G) in potentially malignant disorders and malignant lesions.

AIMS

To evaluate the quality of nuclear and cytoplasmic staining of LG with G, and rapid Papanicolaou stain (Pap) and to compare the total staining efficiency of LG against G and P.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred and eighty participants were studied under three groups - 60 as healthy controls, 60 with potentially malignant disorders, and 60 with malignant lesions; smears were taken thrice from the buccal mucosa. One smear was fixed with Bio-Fix spray and other two smears were allowed to air dry for 2-3 minutes. Then, the ethyl alcohol-fixed smear was stained with Pap and the two other air-dried smears were stained with G and LG stains. Analysis was done using Friedman test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test with SPSS Version 15.0.

RESULTS

In the normal group, staining of LG was highly significant ( < 0.001). Among potentially malignant lesions, LG was observed to be highly significant ( < 0.001) when compared with G and was not significant when compared with Pap ( = 0.186). In the malignant group, LG was highly significant ( < 0.001). LG was superior with the highest average staining score of (2.018) than Pap and G.

CONCLUSION

LG cocktail is a better stain with excellent cytoplasmic and nuclear staining intensity compared to Pap and G stains.