Odontogenic Tumour Patterns- An Introspective Analysis

Odontogenic tumours encompass a diverse group of uncommon tumours that are frequently aggressive in their biological behaviour. They comprise 2.4% of all the lesions biopsied in the dental office. Odontogenic tumours have for years been recognized for presenting clinical & histopathological challenges arising from epithelial, ectomesenchymal and/or mesenchymal elements of tooth forming tissues. Understanding of the most common and rare odontogenic tumours will be of great use in their study and clinical management. Histological patterns and sub-patterns are characteristic of particular tumours, hence serve as a proverbial beacon to arrive at a confirmatory histopathological diagnosis. The molecular mechanisms of Epithelial Mesenchymal Interaction have long been studied as a basis for these versatile tumour patterns. Morphogenesis and cell differentiation in the developing tooth are controlled by a series of reciprocal interactions between the epithelial and mesenchymal tissues. In these rare neoplasms, there is lack of information about ectomesenchymal interactions which is involved in the pathogenesis of these tumours. Our paper aims to assess the validity of tumour pattern as a unique prognostic parameter for odontogenic tumours.