Immunohistochemical staining for vimentin filaments and S‐100 protein in myxoma of the jaws

Abstract

Two jaw myxomas have been analyzed by a panel of antibodies to characterize this tumour type. Vimentin, but not keratin, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament (NF), desmin and Factor VIII-related antigen (FVIII-AG), demonstrated positivity in the cytoplasm of the neoplastic cells. Moreover, an antibody against S-100 protein also showed a strong positive reaction in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells examined. Thus directly indicating a mesenchymal derivation for odontogenic myxoma, and is the first demonstration of S-100 protein within the cells of this tumour type.