Omnia Ahmed Badawi, Amal Hassan Abdel-Rahman And Hend Mohammed Wagih,

ABSTRACT
Background: Some Odontogenic Tumors Such As Ameloblastoma (AB), Ameloblastic Carcinoma (ABC) And Keratocystic Odontogenic Tumor (KOT) Have Aggressive Behavior With High Recurrence Rate. Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) Are Small Subpopulation Groups Of Cells That Are Hypothesized To Be Responsible For Tumors� Aggressiveness And Recurrence. ABCG2 And CD44 Are CSC Markers, So The Aim Of This Study Is To Detect Their Expression In These Lesions Which Will Confirm The CSCs Origin Of Such Lesions.

Materials and Methods: 37 Specimens (15 AB, 10 ABC, 10 KOT And 2 Tooth Follicles Of Permanent Teeth) Were Collected; ABCG2 And CD44 Cytoplasmic, Membranous As Well As Nuclear Immunohistochemical Expressions Were Evaluated. The Area Percent Was Measured For The Positive Immunoexpression Of The Markers.

Results: As Regards ABCG2, A Highly Significant Difference Was Found Between Tooth Follicle, AB, ABC And KOT With The Highest Expression Was Observed In Tooth Follicle. In Contrast To CD44 Where No Statistical Significance Was Found Between AB, ABC And KOT With The Highest Expression Was Detected In AB. Conclusion: CD44 Had Diffuse Positive Immunoexpression In All Lesions In Contrast To ABCG2 That Was Mainly Detected In The Tooth Follicles With Frequent Focal Immunoexpression In The Tumors. So CD44 Was Considered To Be More Reliable Marker For CSCs Than ABCG2, Thus Making Such Tumors Potential Targets For Anti-CD44 Therapies.