Clonal nature of odontogenic tumours.

BACKGROUND: Although clonal origin is an essential step in the comprehension of neoplasias, there have been no studies to examine whether odontogenic tumours are derived from a single somatic progenitor cell. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clonal origin of odontogenic tumours.

METHODS: Fresh samples of seven ameloblastomas, two odontogenic mixomas, two adenomatoid odontogenic tumour, one calcifying odontogenic cyst, one calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour (CEOT) and six odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) of female patients were included in this study. After DNA extraction, the HUMARA gene polymorphism assay was performed.

RESULTS: Most of the informative odontogenic lesions studied (12 out of 16) showed a monoclonal pattern. Among the polyclonal cases, two were OKC, one CEOT and one odontogenic mixoma.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that most odontogenic tumours are monoclonal.