p53 expression in epithelial cell proliferation among variants of ameloblastomas

Introduction: Ameloblastoma has a diverse clinicopathological appearance. Several treatment modalities have been implicated based on such morphology. In this study we are evaluating tumor marker p53 in various histological and clinical subtypes of ameloblastomas.
Background: The primary aim of the study is to know the behaviour of various clinicopathological variants of ameloblastomas on the basis of p53 expression in its epithelial cell proliferation.
Methods: Most common variants of ameloblastomas (n=20) consisting six follicular ameloblastomas (FA), six plexiform ameloblastomas (PA), two granular cell ameloblastomas (GCA) and six unicystic ameloblastomas (UA) with luminal proliferation were selected and examined morphologically and immunohistochemically for changes in proliferative activity using p53 marker.
Results: p53 labelling index was significantly higher in FA,PA,UA than GCA. But mean labelling index of p53 expression was insignificant among FA, PA, and UA. Among various histopathological variants highest p53 mean labeling index was observed in follicular ameloblastoma (70.4%) followed by unicystic ameloblastoma (65%), plexiform ameloblastoma (64.6%) and was minimal in granular cell ameloblastoma(6.2%).
The pearson correlation (which is significant at the 0.01 level) for p53 expression among variants of ameloblastomas was insignificant.(.977)
Conclusion: The pattern of expression of p53 varies among variants of ameloblastomas so it clearly indicates that it is not fruitful to correlate and compare p53 marker in ameloblastomas despite individually p53 marker is useful to assess the neoplastic behavior and recurrence of ameloblastomas. Also it can be concluded that histopathological variants have no or little role in assessing the behavior and prognosis and all ameloblastomas should be assessed clinically for treatment modalities.