An immunohistochemical study of odontogenic mixed tumours

Five cases of odontogenic mixed tumour comprising of an ameloblastic fibroma, an adenomatoid odontogenic tumour, an odonto-ameloblastoma and two ameloblastic fibro-odontomas were immunohistochemically investigated. Odontogenic epithelial cells were fully positive for cytokeratin detected by antibody KL-1, although there were some differences in its intensity. In contrast, for tenascin, only immature dental papilla-like mesenchymal tissue, especially around the dental lamina-like odontogenic epithelium, was positive, while the myxomatous area and connective tissue were negative. Positive vimentin staining was observed in some areas of immature dental papilla-like cells as well as the basement membrane of odontogenic epithelium in the ameloblastic fibroma, suggesting that this tumour had developed at the early stage of tooth formation. Proliferating nuclear cell antigen-positive cells were generally rarely seen, but were frequently observed in epithelial cells of the ameloblastic fibroma and odonto-ameloblastoma. These observations suggest that tumour cells in each odontogenic mixed tumour possess characteristic proteins associated with proliferation potential and that ameloblastic fibroma and odonto-ameloblastoma have higher proliferation potential among the tumours examined.