Evaluation and Comparison of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression between Ameloblastoma and Keratocystic Odontogenic Tumor

Odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) is a developmental odontogenic cyst with an aggressive clinical behavior suggesting a change in its terminology from a cyst to a tumor and has now been renamed as keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT). The purpose of this study was to assess and compare angiogenesis in ameloblastoma and OKC. Angiogenesis was assessed by studying the immunohistochemical expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The study samples included 15 ameloblastomas and 15 KCOTs. The immunoreactivity was statistically evaluated using Mann-Whitney U-test. VEGF expression was higher in ameloblastoma than KCOTs. However, a non-significant difference of VEGF expression was noted between ameloblastoma and KCOTs (P = 0.345). The results suggest that tumor angiogenesis may play a significant role in aggressive biologic behavior of KCOT. Thus, angiogenesis could be a potent target for developing anatiangiogenic therapeutic strategies.