A comparative study of PCNA and Ki-67 expression in dental follicle, dentigerous cyst, unicystic ameloblastoma and ameloblastoma

Various cell proliferation markers are used as diagnostic and prognostic tools in oral lesions. Simultaneous evaluation of these markers can increase the precision of estimation of the proliferative status of different tissues. In this study we investigated the expression of PCNA and Ki-67 as markers of cell proliferation in 15 paraffin embedded samples of each dental follicle, dentigerous cyst, unicystic ameloblastoma and ameloblastoma belonging to a total of 30 male and 30 female paients using immunohistochemistry method. Expression levels based on the intensity and the percentage of stained cells was separately analyzed for each marker with chi-square test, the results of which were significant for the two markers (P<0.05). The correlation coefficient between the two markers was found to be 0.88. A significant difference in the expression of Ki-67 and PCNA was observed in the four types of studied lesions.