Genetic portrait of malignant granular cell odontogenic tumour

Odontogenic tumours are rare neoplasms whose classification is sometime controversial. Among these entities, granular cell odontogenic tumour (GCOT) is extremely rare and usually has a benign clinical behaviour. While the histogenesis of GCOT remains to be clarified, we documented the existence of a malignant counterpart of this neoplasm and proposed the name of malignant GCOT. Expression profiling by cDNA microarrays is a molecular technology that enables a global gene expression analysis. By using cDNA microarrays, we identified in malignant GCOT several genes with significantly differentially regulated genes when compared to non neoplastic tissues. These cancer specific genes include a range of functional activities: (1) transcription, (2) signaling transduction, (3) cell-cycle regulation, (4) apoptosis, (5) differentiation and (6) angiogenesis. In conclusion, we show that cDNA microarrays is a useful approach to investigate the biology of tumours. Moreover, this technology might lead to identification of gene targets for cancer therapy and to molecular classification of odontogenic tumours. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.