ARGYROPHILIC NUCLEOLAR ORGANIZER REGIONS (AGNORS) IN AMELOBLASTOMAS AND ADENOMATOID ODONTOGENIC-TUMORS (AOTS)

Twenty-two cases of ameloblastoma and ten cases of adenomatoid odontog enic tumour (AOT) were analyzed comparatively by the AgNOR technique. Ameloblastomas were distributed into three groups according to their c linical behaviour: primary lesions without recurrences (PLWTR), 5 case s; primary lesions with recurrences (PLWR), 4 cases; and recurrences, 13 cases. The cases were also regrouped according to their histologica l pattern: follicular (9 cases), plexiform (7 cases), acanthomatous (4 cases) and unicystic (2 cases). Considering histological patterns, th ere was a significant statistical difference only between follicular a nd plexiform types. There were no significant differences between the group of ameloblastomas and the group of AOTs or between the three gro ups of ameloblastomas with different clinical behaviour. Our results s trongly suggest that the distinct clinical behaviour of ameloblastomas and AOT is not correlated with their cellular proliferation ratio, Th us, the infiltrative ability of the ameloblastomas is probably not rel ated to the cellular proliferation index of these tumours.