Antigenic Heterogeneity in Granular Cell Ameloblastoma: An Immunohistochemical Study

BACKGROUND: Nature of granular cells in granular cell ameloblastoma (GCA) has always invoked considerable interest. The present study aims at antigenic characterization in five such cases with a panel of markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tissue specimens of five patients with GCA were fixed in buffered formalin and later embedded in paraffin wax. Blocks were sliced into 3 µ thick sections for immunohistochemical analysis using a panel of markers CD68, Bcl2, S100, p53, cytokeratin (AE1/AE3), vimentin and desmin. RESULTS: All five cases were strongly positive for cytokeratin and CD68. S100 was negative in three cases and showed a mild positivity in two cases. Bcl2, p53, vimentin and desmin were negative in all the five cases. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a heterogenous nature of the granular cells; however, further validation is required with a larger sample size.