Utilization of cell proliferation markers to diagnose cystic jaw pathologies

Markers of cell proliferation are widely used as diagnostic and prognostic tools. Coincident estimation of these markers increases the precise evaluation of the proliferative status of different tissues and can also be helpful in determining progression, aggressiveness and prognosis of the lesions. The current study investigated the expression of PCNA and MCM3 cell proliferation markers in 40 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks of odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) and unicystic ameloblastoma (UA) cases using immunohistochemistry method. Markers` expression based on the intensity, percentage of positively stained cells and localization of reaction through the cyst lining epithelium was separately analyzed for each marker using Chi square test, the results of which were significant for the two markers (P < 0.05). Both markers revealed statistically significant differences between OKC and UA cases regarding markers expression intensity, positivity score and localization of reaction through the epithelium. Mural UA histologic variant was significantly different than luminal and intraluminal variants. The correlation coefficient between the two markers was found to be 0.86.