Objectives: The relatively aggressive behavior of the odontogenic keratocyst might be expected to correlate with the degree of proliferation of the cyst epithelium. The proliferation rate of odontogenic keratocyst epithelium was studied with the use of an antibody to the proliferating cell nuclear antigen, a nuclear protein expressed in cycling cells.
Study design: We used the monoclonal antibody PC10 to examine 41 odontogenic keratocysts (21 associated with the nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, 20 nonsyndrome), and assessed the number of positive nuclei in 1000 cells. Statistical analysis was carried out with analysis of variance and correlation analysis.
Results: Positive staining with proliferating cell nuclear antigen was seen in all keratocysts; in addition, there was a significant difference in proliferating cell nuclear antigen positivity between the syndrome and nonsyndrome keratocysts.
Conclusions: The findings support the view that epithelial proliferation plays a significant role in the behavior of odontogenic keratocysts and suggest that the more aggressive behavior in nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome may correlate with a higher rate of epithelial proliferation.