IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DETECTION OF PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN (PCNA) IN 23 CASES OF AMELOBLASTOMA

Ameloblastoma is the most frequent odontogenic tumour. It occurs mainl y in the mandible and grows expansively. The treatment of ameloblastom a, which influences the prognosis, is decided in consideration of many factors, especially the age and size of the tumour. Conservative trea tment sometimes leads to the recurrence of tumours and poor prognosis, but the relationships between the prognosis and the cytological featu res of tumour cells are still unclear. In the present study, we examin ed the immunohistochemical detection of proliferating cell nuclear ant igen (PCNA) in 23 cases of ameloblastoma and evaluated the correlation between the positive index of PCNA and the clinical and histological character. Our results revealed the higher the age of the patient the greater was the incidence of a positive index of PCNA. It was also sho wn that the mean positive PCNA index in the follicular type (34.56+/-1 4.00 S.D.) was higher than that of the plexiform type (24.436+/-15.74 S.D., P < 0.10). The cystic type showed a low positive PCNA index (14. 75+/-8.41 S.D.). In the follicular type, the localisation of PCNA-posi tive cells was different according to the histological patterns of tum ours. Additionally, the positive indices of the same patient differed at different periods of treatment. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.